The Devil Wears Quidditch Gear
by HeyLookTheSnitch
Summary: Darn those bloody Quidditch robes. For all Lily Evans cared, Quidditch could be chucked into the next century. In fact, the stupid sport should just be outlawed all together. Come to think of it, so should the game of Truth or Dare. LJ 7th year.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _I'm only a junior in an American high school. I couldn't pass as JK Rowling if I even wanted to!_

**A/N:** _Welcome to The Devil Wears Quidditch Gear. Yes, the title is a spoof off of the recent movie The Devil Wears Prada, BUT the story has nothing to do with the movie. It's my new Lily and James story (after I deleted my other one because it was simply going nowhere) but I have good hopes for this one. It takes place during Lily and James's seventh year and each chapter will, in some way, relate to Quidditch. _

_Again, this story is in no way related to The Devil Wears Prada ( I haven't even seen the movie yet! lol). So, I hope you enjoy the first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. This chapter takes place during their fourth year; the next chapters all deal with their seventh year, however._

_Please review!_

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**Chapter 1: It All Started with a Dare  
**

A fiercely cold breeze whipped through the trees, nipping at any bare skin that wasn't protected by some sort of material. Many students pulled their scarves around their necks tighter as they continued to laugh and talk about the latest Quidditch game. Gryffindor house had, unsurprisingly, snatched a victory away from the Slytherin team once again and the spectators were now leaving the pitch, chatting animatedly.

Lily Evans couldn't help but wonder why she was standing outside the changing rooms as the rest of the school bypassed her on their way back into the warm, welcoming, sweet smelling castle. Goosebumps erupted across her skin as the bitter cold seeped through her robes and her sweater, chilling her to the bone. Her long red hair was suddenly caught up in the wind and it swung around viciously; she attempted to control it with her hands but only ended up tangling it worse.

"Oh, screw it," she muttered to herself, rubbing her arms for warmth.

Leaves rustled and a stick snapped from behind her. "Now, Lily…"

"Holy hippogriff!" Lily exclaimed loudly, nearly jumping out of her skin. She calmed down slightly realizing that the two people who had just scared the mess out of her were only her two friends. "You scared the magic out of me."

Two girls approached her, each one smiling. One of the girls stepped up to the plate. "You do remember what you're supposed to do, right?"

"Marlene," Lily began impatiently, "you were only muttering the plan to me during the entire duration of the game."

"So you do remember," Marlene replied cheerfully, her straight brown hair swaying in the crisp air.

"Unfortunately."

The other girl smiled reassuringly at her friend, giggling slightly. "Oh, liven up. It won't be _that_ bad. He's one of the most popular boys in school, you know."

"Dorcas…you expect me, out of all people, to care about his status?" Lily responded.

Marlene joined Dorcas as both of them began giggling. "He's extremely cute too," Marlene said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively before she and Dorcas went into another round of high-pitched laughter.

Fed up, Lily simply stared at them, refusing to even crack a smile. Sensing that they weren't going to get any type of positive reaction from their friend whatsoever, Marlene patted Lily on the shoulder. "Well, we'll just leave you to it, then." She winked at her friend before linking arms with Dorcas and the two happily skipped off giggling like a bunch of love stricken girls, leaving Lily on her own outside the team changing rooms once again.

_Stupid friends,_ Lily thought, knowing that she would end up forgiving them later anyways.

Some students smiled and waved at her as they passed and she returned the gestures only half-heartedly. It was kind of hard to be friendly when your heart beat was racing at a dangerous pace and your mind was trying to figure out the best way to grab a guy and snog him senseless. Lily shuddered at the thought, turning her head to glare back at the changing rooms.

If it weren't for her bloody friends or that bloody game of Truth or Dare Lily Evans would not have been standing out in the cold waiting for one of the star Chasers of the Gryffindor team to come out (fully dressed, hopefully) so she could corner him. In fact, if it weren't for any of that, Lily probably would have been up in the common room with Marlene and Dorcas right now, laughing at the looks on the Slytherins' faces when they had lost.

So, she purely blamed her situation on that cursed game of Truth or Dare. _Never pick dare again,_ Lily thought to herself. She knew she should have said truth; everyone knows not to pick dare! Merlin, why had she been so stupid?

Actually, it wasn't fair to place the blame solely on the game; her friends were at fault for giving her the wretched dare in the first place. In the eyes of Marlene and Dorcas, the dare was simple enough and should be treated as a privilege. As they had constantly reminded her, many girls would die to be in her shoes. And, as Lily had constantly reminded her friends, she would gladly switch her neon green flats with some other girl at any given time. Lily had absolutely no desire to make out with some oh-look-at-me-I'm-so-cool-because-I-can-fly-on-a-stick Quidditch star.

Regardless of the fact that the guy was in fourth year along with her, Lily had hardly paid any attention to him. In fact, she only knew his last name because the only time she'd even bothered to pay attention to him was when her professors would call out his name during class to hand him yet another detention.

His surname was Potter, and that's all she knew. Well, she also knew that his friends called him Prongs, but she doubted that the seemingly un-meaningful name was his first name. She'd also learned through the grapevine that the Potter boy was practically a self-proclaimed celebrity. Most of the girls at Hogwarts adored him, swooned over his smile and hazel eyes, and threw themselves at him in hopes of getting a date. The worst part was that he took advantage of every opportunity. Did this boy not sound arrogant?

Lily found the desperate girls and the self-obsessed boy pathetic and had never given Potter a second glance, which had led her friends to believe it would be incredibly funny to dare Lily to kiss him. Ha-bloody-ha; was she the only one _not _laughing? She tried to control her gag reflexes. She vouched to never agree to play Truth or Dare again…

"You could have waited for an autograph back in the common room."

Clutching her racing heart, Lily jumped and spun around for about the second time that day. "P-Potter," she stuttered out, calling him by his last name because she didn't know his first.

A lopsided smile spread across his features as he ruffled his already messy black hair. He leaned against a tree casually, his arms crossed across his chest. "Evans." Nodding off to her, he placed his broomstick beside him tenderly, as if it were his most prized possession.

So, he only knew her last name as well. Now she didn't feel completely stupid. Actually, screw that. She felt completely foolish. How was she supposed to just plant one on him when they weren't even on a first name basis? She didn't want to be known as some…scarlet woman for Merlin's sake.

_Just do it. Just walk over towards him and get it over with. _

While her mind seemed to know what to do, her feet didn't. It was as if her brain signals weren't reaching her feet quick enough as she tried to move forward to get closer towards him. Before she knew what was happening, her left foot had somehow gotten stuck on the hem of her robes and she felt herself lose her balance. Shrieking in a very undignified manner, she began flailing her arms about as she felt her feet leave the firm ground. The next thing she knew she was inhaling the sweet smell of dirt and moldy grass.

Potter jumped back, clearly startled, and looked down at the girl who had just practically tripped at his feet. His mouth twitched. "Are you alright?" he asked, trying to contain his laughter as the corners of his mouth fought to turn upward into a grin.

Lily could only imagine how ridiculous she looked. Attempting to keep her blush at a bare minimum, Lily jumped to her feet with as much dignity as she could muster under the current situation. "Just peachy," she replied defiantly, smoothing her robes out. The nerve of him! He hadn't even offered to help her off of the ground and he had the nerve to _laugh_ at her. Maybe he was just as conceited as she thought him to be.

_The dare; don't forget about the dare._

Lily scowled at the voice in her head that oddly sounded like Marlene's. If she had had enough sense she would have simply walked away and forgotten about the dare altogether. Yet, being fourteen, Lily still believed that under no circumstances could you turn down a dare. She didn't quite fancy being called 'a chicken' for the rest of her life. Darn young teenage antics.

She glanced at the bespectacled boy and suddenly felt a huge urge to hex the smirk right off of his face. "I know I'm incredibly good at Quidditch and all, but…" he began, grinning at her as if she were highly amusing, "there's no need to fall down at my feet like I'm some sort of god."

Ew. Gag reflexes. Who did this kid think he was? "I tripped, you dung beetle," Lily retorted, brushing her hair out of her face. If anyone knew Lily, they understood that the Muggle-born witch wasn't some prissy, shy girl. No, Lily Evans spoke her mind.

Surprising Lily, Potter's smile widened. "Dung beetle? Now, that's one I've never heard before. Though I'll take that as a compliment—" his eyes twinkled happily as Lily shot him a half confused, half disgusted look—"some foreign tribes worship dung beetles, you know."

Was there no end to his witty, arrogant remarks? It would be much easier for her to go through with her dare if he would just shut his large mouth. Her deep emerald eyes narrowed, observing him as if he were some ugly blast-ended skrewt that stood in her way, which in a sense he was.

The boy was tall and lanky, like someone had attempted to stretch him out in a short period of time. His face was handsome, however, adorned with his black fringe and round-rimmed glasses. But, Lily wasn't like normal girls, and just because he did have the potential to be, dare she say it, good looking, Lily couldn't help but hate the guy.

She must have been glaring at him for too long, for Potter ruffled up his hair again. "Did you wait out here just to ogle at me?"

Cringing, Lily fought the impulse to pick up his precious broomstick and shove it somewhere highly unpleasant. "No," she said through gritted teeth, her blood pressure rising. Red heads did have a knack of inheriting short tempers.

"So, you're to tell me that you just normally go around staring at guys." He winked at her and Lily felt her fingers itching to wrap themselves around her wand.

"I wasn't staring," she heard herself fighting back. Honestly, she hadn't been looking; she had merely been sizing him up.

Giving her a look of disbelief, Potter eyed her. "You weren't?" he said sarcastically.

"No."

"No, you weren't staring? Or no, you were staring?"

Somehow her fists had rolled themselves into stiff balls. "I bloody wasn't staring!"—he raised her eyebrows at her—"I was _glaring_."

"What's the difference?" Potter asked innocently, twirling his wand around between his fingers while keeping his eyes on her.

Did he just like to annoy her? They had just met, only talked for about five minutes, and already his life goal seemed to be to drive her crazy? "Staring has different implications than glaring."

He looked at her with mock interest. "Do explain."

Wanting nothing more than to slap him, Lily tried hard to keep her angry growl confined in her throat. "_Staring_ usually means that a person is checking another person—_Oh_, this is ridiculous," Lily said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I knew you'd give in."

Disgusted to the bone, Lily frowned noticeably, her foot tapping distractedly as if to help her release her anger. A few seconds passed where both of them simply stared at each other, interpreting who would do what next. Potter simply stood coolly at complete ease with the world while Lily could have sworn that a second longer in this boy's company and steam would begin bellowing out of her ears.

Slowly—and painfully, she might add—she realized that she still had to go through with her dare. Surely her heart was going to jump out of her chest, not out of nervousness but out of the sheer need to run away as far as possible from Potter. Breathing deeply, and knowing that the sooner she did it the quicker she could get away, Lily carefully placed one of her feet in front of the other. After she didn't trip again, she continued until she was a mere inches away from him.

His hazel eyes widened from behind his glasses as he looked at her, the smirk that had been apparent on his face flickering on and off. "Just…stand there," she ordered him as she scrunched her eyes shut out of disgust. Pretending she was anywhere but there, Lily reached out and grabbed his shoulders forcefully, pulling him closer.

_I hate my friends. I hate my friends._

It all happened so fast that he wouldn't have been able to get away if he had wanted to. Her lips met his and she quickly kissed him, their lips only touching for not more that two seconds. The sudden action must have caught him off guard, because she had kissed him, pushed him away, and put a few feet in distance between them before he had reacted whatsoever.

Incredibly embarrassed, and extremely grossed out, Lily averted his gaze. Without looking at him, she quickly stooped down to pick her discarded book-bag off of the ground and swung it over her shoulder. She promptly turned to walk away before Potter had finally gotten control over his voice.

"The name's James," he called out as if she had passed some sort of test and could now have the privilege of knowing his first name.

Desperately wanting to get back to her dorm and dunk her head in a tub of very soapy, scorching hot water—or maybe some other strong cleaning chemical—Lily turned around to stare incredulously at him. He smirked back, resuming his original position of leaning casually against the tree as if some random girl _hadn't_ just forcefully kissed him.

"Pull your head out of your conceited thoughts, Potter," she exclaimed, deliberately not using his first name. Something that looked oddly like a look of surprise washed across James's features before it quickly disappeared. It was almost as if he'd never been insulted by a girl (which, Lily realized, he probably hadn't) and therefore he didn't know how to react to such a catastrophe.

Quickly regaining his composure for someone who had never experienced a turn down before, his smirk widened. "Maybe if I was a bit more conceited I wouldn't have realized that _that_ was probably the worst kiss of my life," he retorted easily, straightening his glasses.

There was a silence in which James clearly thought that he had won their little argument (or whatever you wanted to call it). "I'm glad we understand each other, then" Lily finally replied, her tone controlled and completely calmed.

Flabbergasted, James's mouth dropped open for a split second as he watched the red head walk away. Lily couldn't help but smile widely as she turned her back on him. She guessed that no one had ever gotten the last word in with Potter before. James Potter always had the last say in everything, but it appeared that Lily had just beaten him by ending the conversation. Extremely proud with herself, Lily waltzed back towards the castle happily, leaving a very confused boy staring at her retreating figure.

James Potter, Quidditch Chaser galore, had just met his match.

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_Alright, readers are free to go now. Thanks for reading and tune in later for the next chapter! (Most likely sometime next week.)_

_Have a wonderful day and please review!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** _I'm sitting on my couch watching My Super Sweet 16 on MTV with my laptop on my lap. With that said, I'm not JK Rowling and Harry Potter does not belong to me._

**A/N:** _Oh my gosh! All of you who reviewed are simply amazing!! Thanks a million to Amber Tinted, Isolde Eris, Ruby89, daydreamin' angel, armygundamgirl, Moonstone, Gloryofthesilent, Mouse and Stupid Productions, pigs can fly, james-s2-lily, potterchik, hermione-G-wanna-be, freakishlyobsessedwithmovies, kluvhp, lilalex13, SparklingEyesWithACrazyMind, cosmopolitan, and VirgoTheVirgin. You have no idea how shocked I was when I saw that I had recieved 18 reviews! Thank you so much! It means so much to me!_

_So, I actually had this chapter written at the same time the first chapter was posted, but I kept re-reading it and changing it until I got this. I hope you all like this chapter! This chapter is mostly an explanation chapter, so I hope it's not too boring._

_Enjoy!_

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**Chapter 2: Bloody Quidditch Gear**

"And it's James Potter who takes possession of the Quaffle," Sirius Black's voice rang throughout the stadium as a player dressed in robes of red and gold whizzed by the stands on a broomstick, a red ball tucked securely underneath his arm. All eyes were glued to the black haired boy as he zoomed in and out of the opposing team, dodging any sign of interference.

In a matter of seconds, the Gryffindor spectators had erupted into screams of approval while the opposite side, adorned in blue and silver, groaned. "And Potter scores!" Sirius yelled into the megaphone, pumping his fist into the air. "No wonder James was given the Captain badge this year, along with his new Headship!"

Back in the stands, a seventeen year old girl with wavy red hair clutched her head in her hands as she moaned angrily. "Why do people always have to remind me of that fact?" she asked desperately, dropping her hands from her freckled face and looking towards her best friend. It was hard enough finding out that Potter would be her fellow Head Boy the first time!

Marlene McKinnon laughed. "Oh, come on, Lily. Enough of the drama," she said good naturedly, pushing her long dark hair out of her face so she could better observe the game.

Lily huffed, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes as James Potter flew right past the Gryffindor section of the stadium. For a split second his eyes traveled from the game and sought her out; he smiled and nodded off towards her when his eyes finally met her green ones. Rolling her eyes, Lily moaned again.

"He thinks he can just come over here and look at me…" Lily trailed off, grumbling to herself before she felt a rather large hand on her shoulder.

"He _is_ trying, you know," Remus Lupin said earnestly from behind her.

Scowling, Lily shrugged Remus's hand off of her. Despite the fact that he was one of James's best friends, Lily had always gotten on well with the sweet, light brown haired bloke. Though, that didn't mean she always liked or agreed with what Remus had to say. "Why, you're right, Remus. He's already scored about four goals," she replied sarcastically.

"You know what I mean," Remus laughed, all too familiar with Lily's antics.

"Although," Marlene broke in, her eyes never leaving the match, "he is doing exceptionally well in the game today as well." She booed loudly as a Ravenclaw beater whacked a bludger towards James, causing the Gryffindor chaser to drop the quaffle.

"Hear, hear," Peter Pettigrew, another one of James's little miscreant posse members, spoke up as he waved his red and gold rosette around in the air. The cold air only made poor Peter's already watery eyes tear up even more, and the large jacket he was wearing only amplified his chubbiness.

"Why must you always take his side?" Lily grumbled to Marlene.

Finally taking her eyes away from the fourteen players hovering in the air around large golden hoops, Marlene looked towards her friend, her brown eyes confused. "Whose side? James's or Remus's?"

"Is there a difference?" Lily asked.

"Hey!" Remus objected, "I take offense to that."

Marlene cursed silently as the Gryffindors around them erupted once more into cheers. "Darn it! I missed something!" she exclaimed, as she craned her neck in order to see over the heads of the people who had gathered in front of her, blatantly ignoring her best friend.

"I still don't understand why Dumbledore didn't make you Head Boy, Remus," Lily continued, still annoyed at the fact that not only did the headmaster have to appoint her worst enemy as her partner, but also that Marlene failed to see the huge problem with it all.

"I guess he decided I didn't do that good of a job as Prefect," the sandy haired boy answered, shrugging.

"Rubbish," Lily encouraged, "You were—" But what exactly he was, Remus didn't get to find out as a large hush seemed to fall around the stadium.

The uncommon silence was slowly broken as one person after the other began chanting and cheering and soon the whole audience was on its feet. Excitement began to radiate throughout the stands and Lily, because some sixth year guy had rudely decided to stand right in front of her line of vision, wasn't able to figure out what was going on in the game.

"Meadowes and Chang are racing for the snitch," Sirius was yelling wildly. "Come on, Dorcas!" Sirius urged, pushing the Gryffindor Seeker on.

Marlene began jumping up and down on the spot. "Come on, Dorcas!" she cried frantically, mimicking Sirius and cheering her friend on.

Finally realizing what was going on, Lily stood on a bench in order to see above the heads. The whole stadium seemed to be holding their breaths, everyone hanging over their seats in order to get a good view of the racing Seekers streaking through the air. They were neck and neck and from her spot it was hard to tell who would actually catch the tiny winged ball.

All at once an uproar arose from the stadium, causing a group of startled birds to fly out of their nest and into the air. The sun beamed down onto the pitch as if the weather was even celebrating the outcome of the match. "Dear Merlin!" Sirius screamed himself hoarse, "Dorcas has done it; that girl sure does have style! Gentlemen, that girl is a catch; you can find her in the Gryffindor—" Sirius's voice broke off as the strict Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, attempted to wrestle the megaphone away from the commentator.

"Sorry, Professor, sorry," Sirius apologized, grinning widely as the group of red robed players all huddled together, celebrating their win. The megaphone back in the hands of Sirius Black, the boy continued to scream madly. "Gryffindor wins! In your face you smarty-pants Ravenclaws—"

Professor McGonagall, determined now to stop Sirius before he could further insult another Hogwarts house, pried the megaphone away from him, ignoring his scream of protests. "Gryffindor wins," Professor McGonagall re-announced, a wide smile on her face—though she didn't know that Sirius had currently pulled a sign out of nowhere that read in large, flashing letters "Lions prey on birds".

OOO

By the time Lily and Marlene had fought their way through the crowd of students all attempting to get back to the castle and had finally arrived into the Gryffindor common room, the party was already in full swing. Sirius's banner from earlier was waving happily across the room and all of the Quidditch players were already bathing in their glory. Music was pumping around the room and a long table full of delicious smelling food and drinks lined the side of the wall nearest to the girls' dormitory.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Going a bit overboard, huh?"

"Nonsense," Marlene replied excitedly. The dark haired girl was always up for a nice, loud party.

Being more reserved than her friend, Lily normally didn't like letting lose. In her mind, parties were considered a nuisance; she knew, as Head Girl, she'd have to be down here at three o'clock in the morning ushering everyone off to bed. Such a petty task was hardly worth her time; she'd much rather sleep.

"I bet Potter is behind this," Lily began, scanning the crowd for the bespectacled boy, "Honestly, it's only the first game of the year…"

"Never too early to celebrate though, eh?"

_Speak of the devil._ Lily spun around and came face to face with none other than James Potter. His messy black hair stood up in all directions, still windswept from the game, and he hadn't bothered to change from his Quidditch gear. Glinting silver on the front of his robes was a badge that read 'Quidditch Captain'. Next to it was another badge, similar to the one Lily wore, that said 'Head Boy'. _As if people need reminding of all of his achievements, _Lily thought savagely, determined to start off on a bad note.

"Boasting much?" she asked, just now noticing that Marlene wasn't by her side anymore. Her eyes quickly searched the room only to find her friend dancing crazily with some random sixth year.

James grinned, following her gaze as Lily seemed to take in all of the decorations with a disapproving stare; yet there was an admiring glance hidden behind her emerald eyes. "I would love to say I made all these party arrangements myself, but sadly all the credit has to go to Sirius and Peter," he explained easily, chuckling.

"Someone say my name?" Sirius asked, appearing out of nowhere and standing by his best mate's side. "Hiya, Evans," he greeted.

"Black," she responded, acknowledging the presence. For some reason, Lily had never gotten on with Sirius Black; perhaps it was simply because he and James were practically brothers separated at birth.

She had spent much of her Prefect career tracking those two down, whether to simply scold them for their poorly timed pranks or alert them that one of the Professors had given them a detention for their periodic fights with the Slytherins. James Potter and Sirius Black; the most popular boys in school and quite possibly the most handsome, not to mention the most trouble making prats Lily had ever met.

Accompanying the two partners of crime were Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. It was clear the Remus was the brains of the group while Peter was simply the admiring fan. Remus was the one who tended to turn a blind eye to his friends' behavior; he chose to rather stay out of the trouble than intervene and stop it. On the other hand there was Peter who acted as Sirius's and James's moral support—though they had no morals to speak of—the guy that stood in the background and cheered, never really intending to join in. Together they had dubbed themselves the Marauders. Lily had dubbed them as the most idiotic, criminal fools she'd ever set eyes on.

"So, Evans, what do you think of my artwork?" Sirius asked, motioning towards the banner that now portrayed a rather glorious looking lion with a crown sitting atop his flowing mane while he viciously feasted on a weak, small black bird. Obviously the deranged boy had been trying to go for some sort of symbolism.

Lily stared at it for a moment. "Very…er…morbid," she said, turning her gaze away from the poster in a disgusted manner as the raven's head began spurting blood like a blocked up fountain that had just been unclogged.

Sirius stuck out his chest proudly. "All in a day's work."

"Impressive," she replied, her nose wrinkled up in disgust, signaling that she clearly did _not_ find the piece of artwork to be anywhere near appropriate and definitely _nowhere_ close to impressive.

"I dunno, Padfoot," James started, cocking his head to the side in order to get a better view of the picture, "I find it to be a very powerful and accurate statement," he told his friend, grinning.

"I knew you would, mate," Sirius replied, clapping his friend across the back happily, looking upon his creation with something that closely resembled a father observing his newborn child.

Sighing as if there were no hope for the two boys—which there probably wasn't— Lily raised her eyebrows. "Only you two..." she shook her head from side to side out of pure disbelief. "Now, excuse me," she said, sidestepping the two boys who were now talking about how they should add a dying snake to the drawing as well.

"What do you think of the serpent idea, dear Lilykins?" Lily distantly heard Sirius's voice call out after her, but she promptly ignored it with an indifferent wave of her hand.

Sashaying her way throughout all of the students, Lily kept her eye out for Marlene, or any one of her other friends. "Hey, Lily, have you seen James or Sirius?" Remus asked with Peter at his side.

She could barely hear him over the noise from music and the incessant chattering. "Yeah, they're over there talking about drawing dead animals," Lily rolled her eyes yet again. Remus nodded a thanks and he and Peter pushed their way through the crowd.

Jeez, how many people could the common room possibly hold? She vaguely wondered if it was physically possible for a room to split open at its seams before a fast tempo song began pumping out through the speakers. The drum beat seemed to synchronize with Lily's heart beat, as if persuading her to move her hips to the music, before all of the rhythm was lost as she jumped about a foot in the air. A pair of unidentifiable arms had grabbed her and whoever it was pulled her out onto the small clearing that had been turned into a temporary dance floor and spun her around.

"Dance with me, Evans."

Her stress level shot upwards and her heart flipped uncomfortably.

Knowing that voice anywhere, Lily's head snapped up and met James's hazel eyes that were gazing down at her. Her heart raced angrily at their close proximity and she wanted nothing more than to walk away from him. A girl in front of them glared at Lily, her eyes full of jealously that Lily was the one being held by James and not her. It made Lily sick the way girls fawned over boys with such horrible personalities. Just because Potter may look hot in his tight Quidditch robes—

_Oh Merlin, who spiked my drink?!_

Wrenching her thoughts out of dangerous territory, Lily came back to her senses. Just because he was cute didn't give Lily any reason to change her perception of bloody James Potter; he was still a cocky git. "In your dreams, Potter," she replied, trying to walk around him, but he took a hold of her arm.

"Just one dance," he said with a wide smile that would make any normal girl fall weak at the knees. "What's the harm?"

Lily stared at him hard as if weighing her options before removing his hand from her waist. "You don't _want_ to find out."

His grin faltered slightly and he sighed, dropping his other hand from her arm and stepping to the side in order to allow her to escape. "Next time I won't take no as an answer."

"We'll see about that," she replied.

The normal smirk had returned as had the mischievous glint in his eyes. "Good."

Had she missed something? "Er…excuse me?"

James smiled at her. "Well, that means that there will be a next time," he winked subtly at her before bowing chivalrously.

"I never said—"

"—After you my dear." Lily glared at him as he stepped aside to allow her a passageway off of the dance floor.

Realizing that if she stayed any longer she'd only indulge herself in a long argument with the vain of her very existence, Lily quickly walked by and away from James bumping into his shoulder purposefully. When he didn't respond or even try to get her to stay again—as what was expected—Lily glanced back at him curiously.

_Something wasn't right with Potter_, Lily thought to herself as she watched James head of off the dance floor and back to his fellow Marauders; Sirius clapped him on the back as Remus and Peter shrugged. He had just let her…_walk away_? Just like that?

Nothing was _ever_ that easy with James Potter. The boy had been practically obsessed with her ever since the time back in their fourth year when Lily had been handed that unpleasant and doomed dare. After that day, James had taken the challenge of trying to woo her over and had asked her out as many times as humanly possible to the point where Lily had seriously considered accepting him once just to get him to shut up.

He had spent that past two years stalking her, hexing people just to get her attention, annoying her to no end, and yet he had just allowed her to…_walk away from him_? What was _that_ about? She glanced back at him quickly. Why was he being so…un-Potterish?

It scared her, to be completely honest. At least with the old James Potter, who would constantly dangle mistletoe over her head even if Christmas was seven months away, she knew what to expect and how to react towards him. Something strange was up and for some odd reason she just knew the Marauders were written all over it, whatever _it_ was.

"Lils! There you are!" Marlene cried through the crowd, swinging a bottle of Butterbeer in her left hand jovially some of the contents splashing over the side. "Come on, you have to hear what happened to Alice over the summer!"

Pushing thoughts of James Potter from her mind—for Lily was positive that it couldn't be good for her health—Lily allowed her friend to pull her towards a couch by the fire where a couple of girls sat, all of them seventh years like herself.

A girl with long blonde hair and a round, happy face was currently sitting in the midst of a group of three girls. A bright smile illuminated her friendly features as the girls around her took turns gazing at her left hand. The setting sun from outside drifted through the window and something on the girl's hand glinted brilliantly in the light.

"Lily!" One of the girls exclaimed the moment she and Marlene had approached them, "Alice is engaged!"

Alice Calvier blushed slightly but grinned nonetheless at Lily. "Frank proposed," she restated happily.

"Are you kidding?" Lily asked eagerly, immediately rushing to her friend's side and grasping Alice's hand where an elegant yet simple silver band bejeweled Alice's ring finger. So, that is what had sparkled. "Oh! Congratulations!"

Marlene settled down on the couch beside them. "I still can't believe you kept it a secret from us for the past month," she grumbled jokingly, nudging Alice happily in the arm.

"Well, we promised we wouldn't tell anybody until we told his parents," Alice said, shrugging contently as she observed the ring again.

"So, what happened? How'd it happen! We want details," a girl in Quidditch robes exclaimed, Dorcas Meadowes. Her blonde curls bounced excitedly as she bobbed her head up and down.

"Well," Alice began, unable to keep the grin off her face, "it was just before the school term started back up again. He took me out for dinner and he just…did it," she broke off, a glazed look in her blue eyes as she sighed happily. "We've talked it all through, though, and decided to hold off the wedding until after I graduate."

"Oh, that's so wonderful," Lily stated, hugging Alice.

The group of girls all looked up as a shadow draped over them. "Heard dear old Longbottom finally popped the question," Sirius exclaimed, kneeling over the couch to examine the engagement ring, the other three Marauders close behind.

"Heard, as in you were eavesdropping?" Marlene asked suspiciously, pushing the boy in the chest.

Sirius stumbled back, catching himself, and sweeping his elegant dark hair back into place. "I'm shocked that you think I'd listen in on conversations, as if I don't have a life," Sirius smirked, winking at her.

The other surrounding girls all sighed hopefully at the wink, but Sirius paid them no attention. If James was handsome, Sirius was practically considered a sex god, yet he never got himself into many relationships. Unlike James, Sirius seemed to completely ignore the large amount of Hogwarts' girl population that compulsively pursued him. Many people thought that perhaps he was just afraid of commitment.

Marlene threw a smirk right back at him. "I'm shocked that you're shocked that I would think you have no life," she stated. Sirius grinned, sticking his tongue out in a spontaneous act of immaturity.

"So, I miss old Frankie. He was an awesome Keeper," James exclaimed, remembering his former Quidditch ally. Quidditch; that was probably the only thing that Potter could even have hopes of remembering about anyone.

"And great at Herbology," Peter piped up.

"Yeah," Remus agreed, his tired blue eyes observing the girls, "how is Frank these days, Alice?"

While Alice carried on about how Frank had begun Auror training, Lily saw James sneak a glance her way. When he noticed that she had caught him looking, he grinned. "What are you looking at, Evans?"

"Me? You were the one perving on me!"

"No I wasn't," James fought back, pushing his glasses further up his nose. The rest of the group around the two of them tuned them out, all too familiar with their arguments.

"I saw you!"

"Maybe you need glasses."

"I do not need glasses," Lily retorted, annoyed.

"Don't deny the fact, Evans. I can show you where I got mine."

Lily stared at him, an incredulous look across her face. Why was he denying the fact that he'd looked at her? Usually he would admit to it right upfront and then follow his pronouncement with an invitation to go to Hogsmeade with him. She could feel her temper rising for what seemed to be no reason at all; no matter what, Potter always seemed to know how to get her riled up.

And sweet Merlin, couldn't he just take off those bloody Quidditch robes? Everyone knew he bloody well played the stupid sport. She wished someone from the English National Team would just come and take him away already.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review! More reviews make a happy author and a happy author makes more chapters. lol_

**Next chapter:**_ James needs a favor and the girls have a chat._

_Have a wonderful day! I'll try to reply to all of the reviews this time around. Thanks for taking the time to read this!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** _Nope, sorry to disappoint. I'm just an American teenage girl._

**A/N:** _First off, I would like to thank the following people who reviewed: __hersheekiss13,_ _daydreamin' angel, missscarlettbelle, pigs can fly, hermione-G-wanna-be, rohosluvsrolos, james-s2-lily, potterchik, and zhangie. Thank you all so much!! It means the world to me! _

_Sorry for the late update. I could have updated last week, but I re-read this chapter and it was, quite frankly, horrible. So, I had to go back and re-write this whole chapter; I hope it's okay. Well, at least I feel like it's better than the original one I had written. lol_

_I hope you all had a wonderful two weeks. I had exams all this week, and now they're finally over! Thank goodness!! Well, I suppose I'll stop rambling now (I'd be very surprised if anyone was still reading this author's note...I feel like I'm talking to myself...lol). _

_On with the story!_

_

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_**Chapter 3: Revolving Around Quidditch  
**

She always felt like a spy when patrolling the dark halls of Hogwarts castle. Whether it was peeping around corners, sneaking into well known snogging spots, or breaking up dirty activities it was all rather exciting. Muggleborn Head Girl Lily Evans was out on the case of catching rule-breaking students. It was a dangerous job but one she had been happy to tackle. Of course, that was before she knew she'd have to collaborate with James Potter.

"Here we come," James called out loudly, stomping his feet louder than what was necessary. His footsteps reverberated off of the stone walls, only adding to the slightly frustrating noise. "We're rounding the corne—oof!"

Lily elbowed him hard in the chest, catching him off guard. "Will you shut up already? How many times do I have to tell you?" she hissed.

"Once more should do the trick."

"Twenty-ninth time the charm, Potter?" she asked scathingly, already completely fed up.

James grinned, eyes twinkling happily from behind his glasses. "I've always said twenty-nine is my lucky number—" Lily glared at him—"I don't see what the big deal is anyway. Just trying to lighten the mood."

Merlin, it was like trying to teach a two year old how to add and subtract. "You're practically giving them a warning!"

A look of innocence washed across the boy's face, but his act of ignorance didn't fool Lily. "Who?" he asked calmly, only adding to her rage.

"Look," Lily said, her voice tottering on the urge of impatience, "if there are…uh…couples up here—which there probably are, seeing as we're patrolling the—"

"—sex tower of all of Hogwarts?" James added in casually, apparently thinking Lily needed help in defining their current location.

"Well, I was going for the Astronomy Tower, but regardless, you can't go stomping around warning them off!" Lily argued, placing her hands on her hips. She seemed to be staring him down as if she were personally trying to melt him with her gaze.

"And why not? I'd rather not see…uh…that."

James blushed and Lily almost laughed out loud at his atypical discomfort, until she realized who she was with. After that, any humor seemed to disappear from the situation. "Oh, please," Lily stated, pushing past the black haired Head Boy and heading towards a small alcove where the curtain covering the spot was gently moving in a rather eerie, flowing, way. "You're so immature."

"Are you saying you want to see two people sucking each other's faces off?" James responded, the corners of his lips twitching slightly as they fought to turn up into a maniacal smirk.

Startled at his assumption, Lily spun around, momentarily forgetting the alcove and the mysterious vibrating decorative fabric. "I—No—you're crazy."

Suddenly at complete ease—though James usually tended to be cool in any given circumstance—Potter leaned casually against the wall of the Astronomy Tower, crossing his arms across his broad chest. She couldn't help but notice how much he had changed from the scrawny, skinny kid to the rather muscled seventeen year old he had become. "It's okay to have certain urges, Evans," James responded.

Right, so maybe he hadn't changed all that much. She threw her hands up into the air as if she were praying for God to strike James down with a lightening bolt. "Yeah, and you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" she retorted, tapping her foot distractedly and raising her eyebrows in such a way that hinted at her annoyance.

"Well, actually, no. That's Sirius."

Before she knew what had happened, Lily felt herself ease up and she emitted a short, terse laugh. Even James looked at her funnily. This strange phenomenon was absurd. She had laughed…at Potter…at a joke! Someone was poisoning her mind! Darn it; she knew she shouldn't have allowed Sirius to pour her that glass of pumpkin juice that morning. Trust the Marauders to spike a drink with some sort of potion that will take away any hope of rational thought from a person.

While she reprimanded herself for drinking that glass of unidentifiable liquid, stealthy footsteps clipped across the stone floor behind her. Straining her ears to make sure she wasn't hearing things, Lily saw James's eyes flicker from her face to a spot just over her left shoulder. Confused, Lily turned to look behind her in order to confirm what, or more accurately whom, was making the noise before—

"Oy! You two!"

Apparently James had seen something that she hadn't. Following her partner's gaze, Lily's eyes landed on two disheveled looking people behind her that were trying to shrink against a wall, attempting not to be seen. A boy and a girl; a boy whose shirt was buttoned as if he'd been on steroids while trying to do them up, and a girl who'd looked like she'd attempted to put on her makeup in the dark. Typical.

Standing to her fullest height, Lily was just about to open her mouth to reprimand the two rule-breaking students before James beat her to the punch again. "Robbie, shouldn't you be resting up for practice later this week?" he asked, observing the sixth year boy.

Of course, that boy was a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ready to jump in and hand out the punishments, knowing that James would probably never do it, Lily stepped forward. And, yet again, Potter rudely interrupted her.

"I'm afraid, as your Captain and Head Boy, I'm going to have to take ten points away from Gryffindor, mate," James announced sympathetically, yet authoritative. He looked at his fellow teammate for a second before his hazel eyes swiveled to Robbie's assumed girlfriend. "Ten points from Ravenclaw as well, Lisa."

Astounded that James was actually doing an adequate job, Lily simply stared upon the scene with wide eyes, totally not comprehending what was going on. When she felt James's eyes upon her, Lily lamely nodded and cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah, back to your respected common rooms."

As the two sixth years shot off down the corridor, an emotion began rising inside of Lily that seemed completely out of place, yet not at the same time. She was angry. She was enraged at the fact that James had completely jumped ahead of her and had made her look like an idiot, similar to a fish gaping for air who had just been pulled out of the sea by a fishing line. She was mad that James Potter, prankster superstar, had taken control of the situation. But most of all, she was angry at the fact that James was living up to her expectations of what a Head Boy should be.

And she didn't know why.

"So, I say I handled that pretty well," James said, wiping his hands off as if they had dirt on them. He had meant it as a joke, she knew, but right now Lily needed a justifiable reason to be angry at him.

"Can't you ever try to be humble, just for a second?" she asked, turning her back on him and intending to walk away with her thoughts.

She knew she was overreacting, and apparently so did he. "Evans, it was a joke."

Why could she feel her blood boiling? Why did her skin crawl at the sound of his voice? More than anything else in the world right now, she really just wanted to push him off of the Astronomy Tower, or hex him at least. For some reason, he was winding her up like he always knew how. This feeling made her feel foolish. However, Lily wasn't really thinking straight and therefore didn't realize how ridiculously this whole conversation was setting her emotions off.

If James knew what was good for him, he really should have kept his mouth shut. "You really need to learn how to loosen up."

There was a short moment's of silence as Lily let these words sink it; she allowed the words to build her temper even further. Who was he to tell her to loosen up when he had just taken points away from his own school house?

A good Head Boy, that's who.

Oh, shut up!

"You are bloody unbelievable," she exclaimed, her voice, surprisingly, smooth even though the voices inside of her head were battling it out. "Bloody unbelievable."

"What did I do, now?" He sighed and she scowled.

Lily hesitated, not really knowing how to answer this. Every answer she came up with sounded dumb even inside of her own head. Her thoughts were so jumbled by now that the only thing she could have accomplished if she had even tried to speak would have been a incoherent mumble. Emotions were flaring through her—anger, annoyance, anger again—and nothing seemed to make sense. That alone probably explained why Lily—a frozen look of pure frustration plastered across her normally pretty features—whisked off down the corridor without another word.

Hoping that Potter had gotten it through his thick skull that she didn't want to be around him, Lily strolled down the hall. Relief at being away from James swept through her, but she knew the feeling was too good to last.

"Hey, Evans!"

She could hear the screeching of breaks, the chilling sound of nails being dragged across a chalk board, a hallelujah chorus getting cut off suddenly, all of the most horrible sounds that she could think of entered her mind as her brain registered the voice. Shutting her eyes and hoping that she'd imagined the voice, Lily kept on walking down the stairs.

"Evans!"

Ignore him; he's not real.

"Oy! Woman!"

That about set her off like a sporadic firework again. How dare he call her something as degrading as 'woman'! She wasn't some low-life housemaid that was there to serve his every need! No good Head Boy would call their partner something that low.

"It's rude to ignore people, you know."

Her thin line of self-restraint snapped as easily as a twig, though she realized it had probably been snapped a long time ago—most likely the first time she had met him. "What is it, Potter?" she cracked, turning quickly.

The next thing happened so rapidly, Lily didn't even have time to feel foolish. As she had turned to hex Potter into the next decade, Lily's foot had caught itself on the step in front of her and she had stumbled. Instead of falling forwards, like she had expected, Lily began falling backwards and was helpless to the projectile motion. With a strange plummeting feeling, Lily's right foot fell straight through the infamous trick step that everyone at Hogwarts knew to avoid.

"Argh!!" Lily screamed, attempting to wrench her foot from the step that was now eating her leg, but her efforts weren't appreciated. Unfortunately, she failed to realize that she couldn't place her hand on the trick step to heave herself out without that getting sucked into the stair as well. So, now she only had one hand, one leg, and a very useless hormonal teenage boy to help her. Blasted trick step. Who made up this kind of stuff, anyway? Sickly amused people, that's who.

James kneeled down on the step above her. "Well, if you hadn't ignored me, Evans, I would have warned you that you were about to walk into the trick stair." He offered her a small grin and took hold of her one free hand, having the intention to help her out.

Unsurprisingly, Lily didn't find this act of helpfulness to be at all heroic. Of all people, she didn't need—didn't want—his help. "Get your hand off of me, Potter!" she exclaimed, glaring at him, convinced that this predicament was entirely his fault. Maybe if he hadn't handed out those punishments and shattered Lily's firm foundation of her view of him, then Lily wouldn't have been caught up in her angry thoughts and would have jumped over the step. Yep, this was his entire fault; most things were.

"Right, then," he stated, withdrawing his hand and straightening his back at once.

She could feel his eyes on her as she placed her only free hand on the stair in front of her and her free leg on a, hopefully, stable step. Lily proceeded to push and pull, pull and push, until her leg stuck in the stair seeped a few inches lower into the empty unknown space. "Bloody stair…" Lily muttered angrily, wishing she had a hand to shove the strands of wild red hair that had fallen from her ponytail out of her face so she could further survey her very sticky predicament. If she could somehow just reach her wand that was in her pocket without falling even more into the staircase…

"Are you sure you don't need some help?"

Lily scoffed, looking up at her so-called 'partner'. Ha, partner her very sore buttocks. "I'd rather eat a pixie."

For a moment, he simply stared down at her, his nose wrinkled up as if he'd just smelled something very offending. "You know," he began, crossing his arms, "pixies can be poisonous."

Gravity seemed to be taking its toll on her as she felt her leg sink an inch or two lower; it was really starting to throb now and her hand was going numb. In other words, her patience wasn't at its highest level. "Do you just like to hear yourself talk?"

"Look, if you don't want my help, all you had to do was tell me," James said.

"I have been!"

Shrugging as if he didn't care either way, James simply grinned and turned his back on her very slowly. It was almost like he was taunting her, daring her to change her mind. "Have it your way then."

Determined not to give in, Lily tried to shove herself out one last time—somehow getting her wand with the only free hand she possessed seemed improbable. However, when she tried to heave herself out, her hand slipped and she fell waist deep into the step. "Well, isn't this just great," she muttered to herself, really liking the idea of kicking something very, very hard.

Annoyed at how her night was turning out, Lily scowled to herself, muttering some very high obscenities under her breath that would have caused McGonagall to cringe. Potter was only a few feet away from her, and there was no way in Merlin's magical world that she could get herself out of this predicament by herself.

Breathing deeply, Lily clamped her eyes shut tightly. She could not believe she was stooping so low. "Potter, wait!"

It was like he had simply been waiting to hear those words as he turned back around to face her, a grin apparent across his face. "Need my help, then?" In response to his question she simply narrowed her green eyes and glared. Taking that as an unspoken plea for aid, James hopped down the remaining steps and stopped right above her. "On one condition…" he began, holding up a finger.

Could her night possibly get any worse? "Typical," she grumbled, completely fed up with everything; fed up with stupid trick steps, fed up with morons who came up with all of these pranks, fed up with James Potter for being so un-James Potter-ish and completely James Potter-ish at the same time.

James tapped his foot impatiently. "Actually, I usually don't find myself in this type of situation often." What she wouldn't give to swipe that smirk right off of his face.

Right at the moment, though, her thigh gave a mighty throb, like the blood circulation from her hip to her foot was being cut off. It was highly uncomfortable. Groaning, Lily sighed. "What's the condition?"

"Now normally I wouldn't take advantage of you like this—" Lily snorted, but James proceeded—"but I know you wouldn't listen to my request if you weren't stuck here…"

"What's the bloody condition, Potter?"

"I need to reschedule this Thursday's patrol."

Lily stared, completely gob-smacked for a split second. That was his condition? She had been expecting something…well, more. Possibly a request for a snog during breakfast tomorrow, an unnatural manipulation for her to be his date for a week, or a demand for her to profess her love for him in the middle of Transfiguration. But no, he just had to go and ask for the one thing Lily hadn't expected. What was wrong with him?

She searched her brain for some default to this request as well. "Why?" she asked impatiently.

"Quidditch practice. I tried to schedule it for another day, but Dorcas has some Charms meeting tomorrow, and Jake has tutoring Friday afternoons…"

Quidditch! Why did it always seem that everything revolved around bloody Quidditch? Because James-bloody-Potter's life revolved around Quidditch, that's why. "So, you're just going to ditch your responsibilities?"

He rubbed a hand through his hair. "No, I said I would like to reschedule."

"No, out of the question. I refuse to be the one to do all the work, and give out the late notices, and rearrange Prefects' schedules…"

"Evans," James said, interrupting her tirade. "I've already talked to Remus and that Hufflepuff fifth year Prefect and they said they'd take over Thursday."

Here he went again, acting all responsible. Lily couldn't help but wonder what was in it for him. Her anger returned, but it was intensified by the now searing pain in her trapped leg. "If I find out that you haven't taken care of it all…" she threatened.

Taking that as an agreement, James grabbed her waist in one swift motion and had pulled her up and out of the step as easy as if he'd been lifting a quill. Lily stumbled slightly, her right foot failing to support her sudden body weight. Brushing off her robes in a dignified manner, Lily stomped her sleeping foot on the ground to get the blood flowing again. She refused to meet James's glance; she refused to thank him. Yeah, she knew she was being childish, but she frankly didn't care.

"Well, then, I suppose I'll see you in lessons tomorrow."

Finally, Lily looked up at him. "What? Not going to ditch Potions?" she asked, her voice cold.

He stared at her, his eyes shining. "And miss watching you the whole period? Nah, I'll be there."

Just like that he had switched from possibly responsible back to his old immature self. "I hate you, Potter."

OOO

"I'm telling you," Lily exclaimed, pacing up and down in front of her four-poster bed back in her dormitory, "he's luring me into a false sense of security with his little 'act of maturity'."

The moment she had returned from her patrolling duties, Lily had felt the need to rant and rave about Potter to her friends. Marlene and Dorcas sat patiently on their separate beds, nodding and occasionally agreeing with her as Lily proceeded with her antics. Alice, and their two other roommates, had long ago fallen asleep, each one blissfully dreaming away. Honestly, that's what Marlene and Dorcas wished they were doing, but losing a few hours of sleep was sometimes inevitable.

"He's not that bad—" Dorcas trailed off at the look Lily was shooting her way—"er…anymore," she rectified her mistake hastily. Lily knew Dorcas was sometimes stuck in the middle. After all, James was her Quidditch captain; there was bound to be some type of loyalty thing there.

"Not that bad?" Lily questioned incredulously, waving her hands about, but really trying to remain as quiet as possible so her other dorm mates wouldn't wake. "Puh-lease! Underneath that mop of messy black hair are little devil horns!"

Marlene sighed, pushing her long dark hair out of her face and over her shoulder. "Here we go with the drama," she claimed, leaning against the headboard of her bed, observing her fingernails lazily.

Lily crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. Was she being dramatic? Of course she was! But was it justifiable? Duh, she was talking about James Potter, for Godric's sake! "Here," Marlene continued, throwing a chocolate frog at Lily, "eat this."

"Hey! Pass one over here," Dorcas stated, holding her large hands out to catch the small, wrapped desert.

Slowly unwrapping her piece of chocolate, Lily fell backwards onto her bed, the springs of her mattress creaking. There was a compatible silence as the three friends dug into their chocolate at nearly one in the morning. There was nothing better than chocolate; it was the best soothing food ever invented.

"You know," Marlene began, "have you ever thought of giving James a chance?"

A look similar to an expression of someone who had just been hit in the face with a Beater's bat crossed Lily's face. "Ew. I think I just lost my appetite," she responded seriously, shoving her half-eaten chocolate frog to the edge of her bed.

Dorcas grinned, snatching Lily's abandoned candy off of her bed. "You were the one who kissed him three years ago."

"Yeah, because you two dared me to!" Lily defended, her voice rising. Her friends were being totally unfair! Best friends were supposed to take your side, not someone's that you just so happened to hate with every fiber of your being. James Potter and Lily Evans just seemed to clash; they were two different people. He was mister outgoing, popular, cocky Potter. She was miss rule-abiding, intelligent, quick-tempered Evans.

Bed springs from somewhere across the dorm squeaked as its occupant shifted their position in bed. "You talk about James Potter way too much, Lily," Alice's tired voice spoke up from the other side of the room.

As Dorcas and Marlene giggled, Lily groaned and pulled her duvet over her face.

_

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_

_Annnnd, readers dismissed! Thank you for reading! And, please feel free to review:) I'll try to have the next chapter up by next week._

_Have a wonderful day! Talk to you all later! (Wow, I think I've gone a bit overboard on all of the exclamation marks...lol)_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I would be able to afford a new Ipod if I was J.K. Rowling. Sigh...

**A/N:** _First, I would love to give thanks to all of the wonderful people who reviewed! Lily Hermione Potter, Mouse and Stupid Productions, Isolde Eris, zhangie, piggy396, C.C., CaramelBoost, AnIrishLily, pigs can fly, Snaily, ThEiNsAnEoNe, James-Padfoot, Whitelight72, APWBDumbledore, Amber Tinted, and my-brutal-romance. I'm serious when I say that you are all amazing! Thank you so incredibly much. _

_So, I've had a pretty tough two weeks. Last weekend I got the flu; it wasn't very pleasant, to say the least. However, I got better just in time for the beginning of TRACK SEASON! Oh, yay, I love track. So, those two reasons combined is why a) I didn't have time to send out replies to reviews and b) this update is a week late. I'll try to get out replies to all of your reviews this time around. _

_I also dropped my Ipod in my toilet last weekend...Don't ask me how I managed that one, because I really have no idea. It all happened in such a devastating blur that I'm having trouble recalling why I even had my Ipod in the bathroom in the first place. Gosh, I'm smart. So, now I have no Ipod. You know, you really don't realize how much you depend on your electronics until you drop it in the toilet. Stuff like that tends to make you realize the important stuff in life. Haha, I'm totally kidding, but I do miss my Ipod. _

_Anyways, I'll stop my pointless ramblings (and if any of you are still reading this author's note, I'd be extremely surprised...) Oh well, so, on with the next chapter. Actually, before we dive into the adventure, I would like to clear up something. _

_Snaily: Oh, I thought this would come up. I think the debate between whether or not James Potter was a seeker or a chaser must be the most thought about question in the history of Harry Potter fanfiction. However, I'm pretty sure J.K. Rowling said in an interview that James Potter was actually a chaser. If I'm wrong, please correct me, because Harry Potter fans seem to be split down the middle with this particular question. _

_This chapter was hard to write. I re-worked it so many times. I hope I got it right in the end. Thanks for reading and please review:)_

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**Chapter 4: Apologies from Satan  
**

_Tap, tap, tap…_

Lily glanced to her left, easing up on her quill as she did so. Marlene was currently resting her elbow on her desk, her head held in her right hand as she tapped her quill against the side of her desk. It was as if Marlene thought that the distracting noise would keep her from falling asleep while smack dab under the nose of Professor McGonagall. Transfiguration had always been Marlene's least favorite subject.

"…though you've all hopefully mastered the spell by now, your N.E.W.T.s will most definitely—Miss McKinnon!"

Marlene's head snapped up and Lily could have sworn she heard something crack painfully. "Professor?" she asked, rubbing the back of her neck while she tried to focus her dazed eyes on the strict headmistress.

"As I'm sure that White Magic isn't looking for a new drum player, you can kindly stop banging your quill against your desk," McGonagall commented, peering down at Marlene with a stare that made many students want to disappear into the floor.

With one final look at Marlene, their professor turned her back to continue writing her notes on the board behind her. Almost instantly, Marlene resumed her position from earlier as Dorcas and Lily tried to contain their laughter.

_Tap, tap, tap…_

Lily shared an amused look with Dorcas and cracked a smile before she resumed her note-taking once again. Her head was bent low, her long, red hair sweeping across her face and over her shoulder. She brushed it away impatiently and dipped her quill tiredly into her pot of ink. Taking notes always was rather dull, but without notes any hopes of passing exams was ludicrous. Marlene continued to create music with her writing utensil as someone behind Lily could be heard crumpling a piece of parchment.

_Tap, tear, tap, tear, tap…_

Someone sneezed from the front of the room and Dorcas ruffled through the papers on her desk in hopes of finding a spare piece of parchment. "Here," Lily whispered out of the corner of her mouth, grabbing a piece out of her bag and handing it over to her blonde-haired friend.

Dorcas nodded gratefully. "Thanks."

While Professor McGonagall continued on about the importance of being able to transform vertebrates into small household appliances, Lily found that her quill was running dry on ink again. The scratching of her quill upon her paper ceased momentarily as she dipped her quill into the small pot full of black liquid beside her. Just as she went to begin scribbling notes down yet again something hit her sharply in the elbow. Her hand spazzed out and a long, black line smeared itself all over Lily's freshly written notes.

"What the…?" Lily mumbled to herself, casting a look around to try to find whatever had rudely ran into her arm.

Her emerald orbs finally landed on the unfortunate culprit; a balled up piece of paper. A note? Who'd sent her a note? She quickly glanced back up towards the front of the classroom where McGonagall still had her back to her class. Curious as to who had written to her, Lily bent down and grabbed the lump of parchment. Hoping that the noise of her restless classmates would drown out the noise of crinkling paper, Lily slowly unraveled the jumbled mess.

**Evans,  
****Remus backed out for Thursday. Need a new replacement.  
****James**

James? Potter? What the heck was he playing at? He was just trying to get her into a detention. That git. Glaring at the innocent note as if she could send a hate message to Potter through it, Lily shoved it to the edge of her desk and promptly ignored it. She knew agreeing to change the patrol duties for Thursday would just cause her more work. Potter had promised he'd gotten it all figured out! A feeling of idiocy swept through her; why had she trusted James Potter to work things out of all people?

Promising to herself that she'd deal with this later, Lily busied herself with listening to her teacher. She was just falling back into her stupor of listening to Marlene's dancing quill and the sharp voice of McGonagall before something struck her in the back of her head. A deep voice snickered from behind her.

_Immature idiots_. Lily scowled, her fists clenched, as she concentrated with all of her might on the notes being written up on the board. It was a difficult feat considering that every few minutes she felt something lodge itself into the back of her head. It wasn't until a particularly large piece of paper hit her in the back accompanied with an obnoxious "Pst!" that Lily lost it.

"_What_ do _you_ want?" she hissed, turning around in her seat sharply and allowing her eyes to fall upon the four Marauders.

James grinned, his hazel eyes brightening from behind his glasses. "The point of passing notes is for the receiver to return one back."

Sirius laughed quietly, his arms resting casually across his chest, his chair propped up on its two back legs only. Remus rolled his eyes as his quill continued to move across his paper. Peter's eyes were screwed up in a look of strong concentration, the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he scribbled words across his own parchment.

"Is something wrong, Miss Evans?" McGonagall asked, approaching the redhead's desk as she looked from James to Lily.

"No, Professor, Lily here was just asking me for a spare bit of parchment," James answered, crossing his arms over his chest in a relaxed manner. For a split second, Lily could have sworn that their professor had glanced suspiciously at the pile of blank paper on the tip of Lily's desk. She attempted to pull a look of innocence onto her face. Either McGonagall actually believed James, or she just didn't want to deal with it, because without a word she turned on her heel and began her lecture again.

Groaning in an irritated fashion, Lily faced the front of the room with a dignified "humph". Dorcas and Marlene gave a questioning look which Lily waved off in such a way that promised her two friends that she would tell them later. She was determined to not give into Potter's demands. She'd already done that once and she wasn't—

_Smack!_

Another balled up piece of paper flew over her head and bounced off her desk and onto the floor. "That's it…" Lily said to herself. If it was a note he wanted, a note he would get. Grabbing one of the many forgotten notes scattered around her desk, Lily balled it up and chucked it as hard as she could behind her.

"Ow!"

Lily grinned victoriously and was prepared to spend the rest of the double period of Transfiguration in a semi-peaceful manner before—

"Miss Evans, Mister Potter, this is the second time you two had disrupted my class. What, may I ask, is going on?"

It was just now that Lily realized just how loudly James must have cried out his declaration of pain. The whole class seemed to have their eyes focused on the two head students; Marlene had even stopped her noisy quill. Her face began to heat up as Lily raised her head to meet her Professor's wrath.

"Uh…I was just—" McGonagall raised her thin eyebrows impatiently—"It's all his fault!" Lily exclaimed, the words tumbling out of her mouth incoherently. She wouldn't have said something so childish if she had had time to think of a good enough excuse.

James opened his mouth to protest almost immediately, brandishing his arms as if to emphasize his point. "You hit me in the eye!"

Lily whipped around in her seat, her long hair flailing out behind her. "Like it matters! You wear glasses!" The thought that the entire class, and even her professor, was watching Hogwarts' Head Boy and Girl bickering seemed to have slipped from both of their minds. Well, it had escaped from Lily's mind; James probably just liked the attention.

"It's the intention of the action that counts—"

"Enough!" McGonagall's eyes flashed dangerously, her lips parted slightly in a thin line which was never a good sign. Lily's blush deepened. "I would have thought the two head students would have set a better example. Detention—" Lily opened her mouth to protest—"for the both of you!"

Knowing it was useless to argue against the strict teacher and come out of it alive, Lily straightened her back against her seat with her head held high, determined to save some of her dignity. A couple of Hufflepuff students in the back row were sniggering; what Lily wouldn't give to tell them off. In fact, she had a lot on her mind that she wanted to share with one particular Marauder.

"Nice one, mate," she heard Sirius say as he congratulated James on, no doubt, living up to the Marauders' expectations of rule-breaking. What prats!

So, now, thanks to Potter and his moronic ways, she had a…detention? Head Girls weren't meant to get detentions! They were meant to be, well, spotless. She had never done anything wrong before—well, she had never been stupid enough to get caught, but still! Why did Potter always have to do this to her? She knew she shouldn't have gone along with James's idea of switching patrolling nights. Stupid Quidditch, stupid Potter, stupid notes…

_Tap, tap, tap…_

"Marlene! Quit it!"

OOO

Evil, eerie music—the kind in a movie that beats in the background when some victim goes to open a closet that they really shouldn't open—began playing in her head. She was headed to her doom, to her own personal hell. Spending two hours with James Potter grading third years' essays was hardly the night Lily had planned. All she had wanted was to catch up on some homework, perhaps play a game of chess with Dorcas; was that really too much to ask?

"Miss Evans, glad to see you're on time."

Lily entered into McGonagall's office, not the least bit surprised to find that Potter had yet to show up. "'Evening, Professor," Lily greeted politely despite the absolute dread that had been building ever since the end of Transfiguration class that day. She felt her anger increase tenfold at the thought of Potter.

"We'll just wait for Mister Potter to show up…"

It was quite awkward standing in her teacher's office while the tight-haired professor re-organized a stack of papers on her already overly-organized desk. The glasses that rested on the tip of her nose slid down a bit and McGonagall pushed them back up with her index finger. For some reason, Lily could feel a type of tension in the air that made her feel like she'd done something wrong. Well, technically, she had otherwise she wouldn't have been standing here, but the situation was awkward nonetheless. Perhaps it had something to do with the distancing aura that seemed to always encircle Lily's Transfiguration teacher.

"Where is that boy...?" Professor McGonagall muttered to herself, cutting the building tension with the blunt tone of her voice. Lily turned her head towards the office door, wondering the exact same thing.

"Biscuit, Miss Evans?"

Lily jumped, staring down at the small, porcelain jar of baked cookies that her Professor was attempting to hand to her. For some reason, cookies and McGonagall just didn't seem to mix. Her mind chuckled at the image of Minerva McGonagall in a house apron. "Uh, no thank you."

A few seconds passed as her head of house placed the jar back into its designated place. Lily could feel the awkward feeling returning, until the pattering of footsteps was heard approaching McGonagall's office. Then, muffled voices reached Lily's ears, and the door flew open, swinging wide on its hinges. James walked in and Lily's foot began tapping impatiently on a mind of its own.

"Aw, Mister Potter," McGonagall stated simply as if she were used to seeing him after school hours, "nice of you to show—Mister Black, I don't recall giving you a detention for this evening."

Lily had been so absorbed in trying to melt Potter's very existence with her intense glare that she hadn't noticed the young man that had pranced in behind James. Sirius smiled at McGonagall, his dark hair falling into his eyes. "It's always nice to see you, Professor. I just had to drop by," he said charmingly.

Lily rolled her eyes. "You are leaving, aren't you?" she asked, desperately hoping that he was. Being stuck with just Potter was bad enough—add Sirius Black into the equation and Lily might as well Avada Kedavra herself, because she probably wouldn't survive the night anyway. Actually, they were the ones that probably wouldn't live through the detention.

Thankfully, her professor seemed to have been thinking along the same lines. "Leaving Miss Evans with you and Mister Potter is more than a unfair punishment," McGonagall stated, "If you want detention this badly, I'm sure I can arrange something with Argus Filch."

Sirius made a dramatic show of thinking the offer over; Lily and McGonagall both placed their hands on their hips. "I can assure you that I can get Argus down here rather quickly if I must, Mister Black," McGonagall threatened rather calmly as she re-shuffled some papers.

"Now, would you really do that, Ma'am?" Sirius asked.

Judging by the look that Sirius was receiving, it was pretty obvious what the answer to the question was. "Padfoot, mate, I'm pretty sure she would," James muttered. It appeared that all he needed was his best friend's advice as Sirius patted his friend on the back.

"See ya later then, mate. Don't go too hard on them, Professor—"

"Mister Black…"

"Rightio. I'm leaving." With one final wink, Sirius finally took his leave.

James was grinning amusedly at Lily—which she didn't return—as Professor McGonagall began giving out their instructions. "Well, now that both of you are here we can begin. You two will be grading these—" she indicated the stack of papers that she'd been straightening earlier—"essays for my third year classes. Maybe it will teach you two to cooperate." She broke her tirade by staring between each of them. "I'll be back in two hours." The two teenagers watched with different feelings as McGonagall headed towards her office door. "Oh, and Mister Potter, make the grades fair."

"Wouldn't dream of doing anything otherwise," James replied.

With warning stare and a snap, the door closed, and Lily suddenly felt like someone had just closed the cell to her own jail and had thrown away the key. So, this is what being in prison felt like. She was stuck with a criminal in a small room, wrongly convicted of a crime that wasn't her fault. Without uttering a word, Lily pulled out the chair from behind the now vacant desk and sat down in it.

A cough interrupted the silence. "Where am I supposed to sit?"

"The floor," Lily suggested coldly, cutting the stack of essays into two equal piles, refusing to even look at James. "Here," she continued, and dropped his pile onto the floor, causing some of the papers to scatter. She had always been good at letting out her anger in subtle ways, most of the time anyways.

"Nice, Evans, real mature."

Apparently, taking deep, calming breaths wasn't enough to subdue Lily's anger. If it weren't for him and his precious broomstick practice she would not have been humiliated in front of the class! So much for subtle anger hints. "You—" she stuck her finger under his nose—"are not one to talk of being mature, king of the five year olds."

With a flick of his wand, James conjured a chair out of thin air. There was a few seconds of silence, but of course James just had to break it. "So," he began casually, disregarding her earlier comment, "did you get my note?"

Her rational level of tolerance exploded. "Oh. My. Holy. Merlin. What is wrong with you?" she stated, looking at James as if he was some three headed monster that had drool hanging from its fangs. He always knew just the _wrong_ thing to say.

"You could have just replied to my note, you now," he said simply, his calmness with the situation completely causing her patience to pop.

"And where would that have landed me?" she replied sarcastically, flipping through the essays rather viciously.

She realized the irony in her question the same moment he had. "Uh…most likely here."

Not really having a smart-sounding comeback to that, Lily huffed impatiently. She glanced down at her wrist-watch; one hour and fifty-five minutes to go. The little minute hand on her clock face seemed to be going ten times slower than normal. What had she done in life to deserve this?

The two continued the silence as James crossed his arms and wordlessly Accio-ed his fair stack of papers off of the floor. That's when James apparently found it a good time to strike up a conversation again. He would just never learn. Trying to tame an enraged lioness was never a smart move. "Well, I guess we need to find another replacement for Thursday then."

Lily scribbled an 'E' on the top of Georgina Mill's paper before she slammed her quill down onto the surface in front of her. "We? There is no '_we'_ Potter. _You_ got yourself into this. _You_ were the one who needs your precious Quidditch time. _You_ are going to find a replacement."

James shrugged tensely. "Fine." His eyes returned back down to the essay he'd been in the middle of reading before his hideous attempt to a civilized conversation. Minutes passed and then James began to hum rather tonelessly.

Slowly, Lily looked up at him, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Will you stop!"

He looked up from his lap. "Stop what?" He began humming again.

"That!"

Her blood boiled as he grinned, ruffling up his hair in an old habitual manner. "Sorry, Evans."

His apology was hardly adequate, let alone genuine; annoying her was what he did best. It was his life goal. The only thing he would probably ever accomplish in life besides his winning record for most detentions by a Hogwarts student. Surprisingly, however, he did stop humming. He was trying to mock her with the silence, as if he were saying "Yeah, will if I'm not humming all you're going to hear is that annoying buzzing sound in your ears."

"Stop it!" Lily hissed again, throwing her quill down onto the table forcefully. Alright, so she'd let the silence get to her, but he didn't have to make the quietness so irriatating in the first place. Any other person would have thought Lily was going mental.

Apparently, James was the 'any other person'. An incredulous look spread across James's features, clearly signaling that Lily should be transported to St. Mungo's. "What? I'm not doing anything."

"Yes, you are."

"Fine, whatever."

Her hand was shaking out of rage and a large glob of dark ink slipped from the tip of Lily's quill and onto poor Andy Martin's homework. Growling, she whipped out her wand, waved it around the kid's essay, and the inky mess disappeared. No one talked. Actually, it would have been hard to tell if the two Head students were even breathing. They seemed to have locked themselves into an unspoken consent for a challenge to see who would crack first under the tense silence.

_Tick, tick, tick…_

Lily tried hard not to throw her watch up against the wall as she immersed herself into reading yet another essay where the writer clearly hadn't known what in the world he'd been talking about. She scribbled a loopy 'P' into the top, right hand corner of the paper before moving onto the next one. From a few feet away, Lily could see James out of the corner of her eyes. He flipped through his stack of parchment like he wasn't really reading a word.

It seemed like hours and hours had trudged by in silence. Lily had just finished grading the last student's paper when the door leading into the office opened. A flood of fresh air seemed to sweep into the room and Lily had to constrain herself from jumping up with glee.

"Alright, you two are excused. Please try to work together from now on. You were made Head students for a reason; don't give a reason for students to think otherwise."

Lily leaped out of her seat instantly. She straightened up her pile of graded essays and handed them to McGonagall. "'Night, Professor," she stated almost giddily. James stood behind her, his bag slung over his shoulder in a care free way. While she desperately wanted to skip away and leave, Lily knew that McGonagall would think of the action as rude. After all, the teacher had just given them a speech on working together—Lily didn't think that ditching her partner would be considered 'working together' in McGonagall's mind.

Finally, James had gathered all of his stuff and the two of them whisked off down the castle. Well, Lily whisked off; James tried to keep up with her brisk pace. Lily's heart clamped painfully as his voice rang out from behind her. "So, do you think Jake Collister would do it?"

Huh? Lily raked her brain for any hint of what Potter could possibly be talking about. Oh yeah, rescheduling patrol duty. The whole thing that had started this. "He was on duty tonight." She answered shortly without looking back at the messy haired boy.

"Right. Hm. What about that Marcia chick from Ravenclaw?"

"I dunno, Potter." Chick? Couldn't have the respect to call her by her full name?

"What about Sirius?"

Lily rolled her eyes, fed up with his incessant questions. "He wasn't, and isn't, a Prefect."

"Oh, sod it. He's responsible enough." Lily spun around and raised her eyebrows. "Er…ok, so, screw the Sirius idea."

The Portrait Hole leading into the Gryffindor Common Room was getting closer as they continued walking. It was beckoning out for Lily, calling to her, offering her a safe Potter free dormitory.

"What about—"

"—Potter! I. Don't. Know. Alright? I already told you that you're on your own!"

James frowned. "You know, you really shouldn't let a little thing like detention get you so twisted up."

She really should have just kept walking. But, that wasn't what fate had planned out for her that night it seemed. "No, no, no. Detention wasn't the thing that got me 'twisted up', Potter," she stated hilariously. "No, you got me twisted up! You always do that! You're insufferable!"

"Oy! I didn't do—"

Lily placed her hands on her hips in a mad fit of rage. "You always have to go out of your way to get me into to trouble—"

"Evans, I—"

"—You caused me to fall into that trick stair—"

"_What_? I did no such—"

"—You landed me in detention—"

"I didn't mean—"

"—You're ruining my reputation as Head Girl. I don't need that, Potter!"

A ringing silence rang throughout the deserted corridor. James appeared to be struck into silence as he simply stood and stared at the raging girl in front of him. He either was shocked at her outburst or hadn't understood a word she had said. With one final look of loathing, Lily spun on her heel and began to stalk away. It wasn't until she was a few feet away that Potter seemed to have regained his use of voice.

"Evans!"

Lily continued walking, well, more like marching, down the corridor. She had had enough of Potter. It was funny how the night before she actually had thoughts that he was turning into a good Head Boy. Ironically, the next day he had landed both of them in detention. He never did fail to amaze her.

"Look, Evans, I'm sorry!"

It felt like something had just smacked her upside the face. She halted quickly, tottering on the balls of her feet. Surprise at what she had just heard flooded through her, making her believe that she must be dreaming. There is no way that James Potter would apologize to her; it was an idea that Lily found absurd. She heard his feet approach her from behind and she quickly retained herself.

"Yeah, well," Lily fished through her mind to find something reasonable to say to that, "you should be." Perfect comeback. Short, sweet, and to the point. Alright, so it wasn't really 'sweet'. Merlin, why did her mouth always speak before she thought.

As she walked away she couldn't shake off the feeling of uneasiness. This type of character from James Potter was so out of the blue. It was almost as unrealistic as the thought that Petunia, her older sister, would one day realize that magic really did have its uses. Something was up. The Marauders were definitely playing at something and the ring leader was leading his pack.

* * *

_Phew! (Wipes forehead) That was my longest chapter yet! Thanks for reading everyone!_

**Next chapter:** _A certain bet leads to a certain dare..._

_I'll try to get the next chapter up by next week. We'll see how that goes..._

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** _DEATHLY HALLOWS COMES OUT IN LIKE FOUR MONTHS! I'm so darn excited to read it! (By the way, if I were JK Rowling, wouldn't I already know what happens, considering I would have written it?) _

**A/N:** _First off, I'd like to give a thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed and motivated me to keep writing: DarkKyubi, pigs can fly, headgirl90, Super Smexy Snuffles, CaramelBoost, Isolde Eris, kkroonie, messyblackhair66, Snaily, Amber Tinted, zhangie, Lbeen393, twilight8ec, Acelinn, -Jeisa-, and MarisAlexia. You all rock my socks completely off. _

_Ahem...so...(rubs neck uncomfortably and glances around awkwardly)...long time no see. Technically, it's not my complete fault that it took me this long to get this chapter up. Alright, who am I kidding? It's my fault. I've just been so busy and my stupid computer keeps breaking. But, while my computer is up and running now I decided to finally post chapter 5 (this is your cue to start cheering...haha jk). I promise I'll try not to let the time between my updates span out for this long (two months...dang. Has it really been that long?) Anyways, I hope you all like this chapter! The plot is really starting to pick up now..._

_Ipod Update: Still broken. In fact, I just mailed it today to the Apple store. For some reason, I kept on forgetting to mail it and my dad came into my room at 6 this morning, woke me up, and told me to give him my Ipod so he could send it off to get fixed. Which is cool, except for that fact that my dad woke me up at STINKIN' SIX IN THE MORNING! lol_

* * *

**Chapter 5: And the Dares Come Out**

"Don't you just love the feel of the wind in your hair and the wood between your legs?"

Lily and Marlene glanced at each other, a humorous smile breaking out on both of their faces. Both of them were thinking the same thing; Dorcas was crazy. Or maybe she was just crazy about Quidditch. Either way, the blonde haired girl was the reason that the two other girls were heading towards the Quidditch pitch Thursday afternoon. Classes had ended an hour ago and dinner was still a couple of hours away.

"Incase you hadn't noticed, Dorcas," Marlene stated, "neither Lily nor I has, or ever had, a broom."

Dorcas grinned, waving her broomstick throughout the air. "Yeah, well whose fault is that?"

"The person in charge of planting good Quidditch playing genes into children," Lily joked with a shrug.

"Exactly," Dorcas retorted happily, whistling some cheery tune.

The golden hoops that signaled that the Quidditch pitch was near loomed ahead of them and Dorcas gained an extra hop in her step. Dorcas had convinced Lily and Marlene to come out and watch the Gryffindor practice. Marlene had been bribed with the fact that she could scout out hot, potential boyfriends. Lily…well Lily simply had nothing else to do besides homework, which, as tempting as it may have sounded, just didn't appeal to her.

"Go on, then," Dorcas said as the rest of the Gryffindor team came into view. "Go sit with the Marauders in the stands."

Marlene wrinkled her nose. "Do we have to?"

Knowing that her friend was just trying to be difficult and that Marlene actually didn't mind the Marauders' company, Dorcas gave her friends a shove in the back. "Hurry up. I'm already the last one here—"

As if to back up her point that Lily and Marlene were holding Dorcas up, James called out, "Meadowes! Get over here!"

The three girls turned at the voice. "Keep your knickers on, Captain," Dorcas said, turning back towards her friends. "Wish me luck."

"Have fun," Lily and Marlene said. From behind them, James gave Lily a slight nod of the head and a smile before he mounted his broom. In response, Lily shook her head and raised her hand up in a formal sort of greeting. Dorcas, who had already bounded off towards the rest of her team mates, hadn't caught the interaction. Marlene, on the other hand, had seen it.

"Lily," she sang in a sing-song voice, grabbing her friend by the elbow and pulling her off towards the bleachers, "what was that?"

"What was what?"

Marlene sighed exasperatedly. "Don't be ridiculous. You and James…"

"It was just a greeting between two acquaintances," Lily responded truthfully. It was true; she didn't regard Potter as anything more than that. She didn't know how he'd suddenly gone from being her sworn enemy to an actual human being, but she knew it had something to do with that night they had detention. Though she still didn't quite trust his intentions, an apology _was_ an apology.

Thankfully, the subject of James Potter dropped as Marlene climbed up the set of bleachers towards Sirius and Peter. "Hey guys," she greeted, taking a seat on the cold metal.

"Ladies, fancy seeing you two out here. Was the library closed or something?" Sirius asked.

Marlene smacked him lightly on the arm as Lily laughed slightly. "Funny, Black," Lily stated, rolling her eyes. "Hey, Peter." Wrapping her coat firmly around her, Lily flopped down beside Marlene, who scooted over to make more room. Something was missing from this picture, Lily thought, as she looked around. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. And then, it hit her.

"Hey, where's Remus?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Peter glance at Sirius. "Mum's sick again, poor woman," Sirius answered nonchalantly, picking at some invisible something on his fingernail. Lily's eyes narrowed, not quite believing Sirius. Peter nodded in conformation, his mop of blond hair flopping about on his head.

There was a lull in conversation as Peter sucked on his Sugar Quill. Sirius fidgeted from the lack of noise and the bleachers creaked as he turned to face Lily.

"So, Evans, came to check out James in his natural habitat?" he asked, a graceful smirk crossing his handsome face as he successfully switched the topic of conversation.

Lily snorted as Marlene laughed. "He wishes."

"Sadly, he does," Sirius responded, nodding. "Right Wormtail?"

Peter pulled the candy out of his mouth and licked his lips before saying, "Yep, quite pathetic actually."

Rolling her eyes, Lily turned towards Marlene and made a face. She then pulled back her coat sleeve and checked her wristwatch. As the sun began to sink below the surrounding hills, the weather began taking a sharp turn from cool to freezing. In fact, it was getting so chilly that Lily began to wonder how the Gryffindor players could even stand being up in the air where it was surely colder.

To her right, Sirius was entertaining Marlene and Peter with a joke that involved a House Elf, a Hippogriff, and a Centaur. Lily didn't even _want_ to know what all of that meant. Her mind wandered to what she was going to do tonight. She would have more free time than usual, due to the fact that James had finally been able to find a replacement for their patrol tonight. The two Hufflepuff fifth year Prefects had agreed to help them out. As much as she hated to admit it, she was actually grateful that Potter had needed to reschedule for tonight. She had a major Potions essay to complete.

"When are we going to leave, Marlene?" Lily asked.

Marlene, who was still chuckling at the joke Sirius had told, looked up. "What do you mean? Whenever Dorcas is done."

"But she won't be done for _hours_."

"What are you talking about, Evans?" Sirius asked. "James never holds Quidditch practice past dinner time."

"Yeah, he likes his treacle tart," Peter added.

Confusion, spiced up with a little bit of anger, swept through Lily. "But Potter said…_Potter_." Her eyes scanned out the black haired Quidditch player who was leading his team back down towards the ground. She glared. He had lied to her! He had said that he had Quidditch practice tonight, and that's why they had to reschedule patrol duties. Clenching her fists, Lily whipped back to face the two other Marauders.

"There is no Quidditch practice tonight, is there?"

Peter jumped as Sirius swore under his breath. Obviously, he had realized that he had said something wrong. "Uh…oh yeah. That's right. Yeah, there's another Quidditch practice…uh…later," Sirius said, attempting and failing to sound innocent.

"What? Quidditch practice later? My legs are killing me. That's it, I'm ditching." Dorcas had approached them without any of them knowing. Her broom was lying across her shoulder and a smile was on her face.

This was all the conformation that Lily needed. Before she had time to say anything, Sirius had pulled Peter to his feet and was slowly backing away. "Well, we'll see you girls later. Nice practice, Meadowes."

"Uh, thanks?" Dorcas responded, confused at the abrupt departure. "What was that about?" she asked as the two guys walked, rather quickly, towards the Gryffindor changing rooms.

"Potter is so dead," Marlene said, voicing Lily's opinion.

OO

Lily broke away from her friends as she marched over towards the entrance to the changing rooms. She had sent Marlene and Dorcas up to dinner and had taken the responsibility upon herself of berating Potter.

_Darn James Potter. Darn it, darn it, darn it…_

She rounded the corner at a fast pace. The door was a open a crack and she was just about to push it open when—

"…I wouldn't be surprised if she's outside waiting with a hatchet, mate."

Lily stopped in her tracks, her hand still outstretched as if about to open the door. Instead, she compromised by lowering her arm back down by her side and she leaned her ear up against the door. Were they talking about her? Probably. Did she have the right to eavesdrop? Heck yes!

From the other side of the door, James sighed. "I've really blown it, haven't I?" he asked.

"I don't think you really had anything to blow, Prongs."

For the first time in a while, Lily couldn't help but agree with what Sirius had said. It's not like she had started liking Potter or anything.

"Thanks, Padfoot, thanks a lot." Through the small crack in the door, Lily could just make out James, who was sitting down on a bench.

"You could still win, you know," Sirius said.

Win? Win what?

Apparently, James was thinking along the same lines. "What are you talking about, Sirius?"

"Our bet."

Lily's mind froze. She only vaguely heard James snort with amusement before her mind completely shut down. Bet? As in Sirius and James had put money down on something? Oh Merlin…Subconsciously, she leaned even further towards the door so that her ear was completely pressed up against the rough wooden surface.

"You'll be five galleons richer by the end of this year, Padfoot," James laughed, clapping his friend on the back.

"Evans is a rather stubborn chick, it's not your fault."

A bet about her? Lily shut her eyes tight as her head began to pound. It sounded like…they had bet on whether or not James could get her? A white flash of rage surged through her, the blood rushing from her head to her toes as she rapidly stood up.

"What's that?" James asked, referring to the noise Lily had made when she had gotten up from her crouched position.

Without a backwards glance, Lily high-tailed it out of there. Normally, she would have burst through and yelled at Potter for doing something like this. But she didn't. For some reason, she didn't want to confront him; she merely wanted to run to her dorm. It had all been a bet! Everything made sense now. Lily had known something had been up since the beginning of the year. What, with James's new found personality makeover and his mock concern for his responsibilities as head boy, Lily should have known it was because of something like this.

James had simply wanted to win the bet and had decided to change his act in order to win her over. Yeah, well, too bad for him she had been onto him...

Lily burst into the girls' dormitory causing Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice to jump at the sudden entrance. "It was all a bet!"

The three girls shot each other confused looks. "Uh…what?"

"Potter!"

Marlene glanced at Dorcas as if asking her friend if she knew anything about what Lily was talking about. "Care to elaborate, Lils?"

"His bloody prats bet him that he couldn't get me to go out with him," Lily said quickly, trying to catch her breath from all of the news she had just learned. And before she knew it she began spilling all of what she had heard out onto her friends.

"You're kidding!" Alice exclaimed after Lily had stopped talking to catch her breath.

"That's why he's been acting so different this year! It's his last chance to try to win," Lily continued, her voice shaking from her suppressed rage.

She didn't really know why this was bothering her so much. It was mostly because she had been at the butt of another one of the Marauders' jokes, but it wasn't just an everyday blow up the pudding at dinner type of prank. The expense of the boys' little joke wouldn't have been just her hair turning green or her robes catching fire. No, what really ticked her off was that they had planned on toying with her emotions for a few laughs and a couple of galleons. What if she had fallen for James? What if he had won and then he had kicked her to the curb?

However, another part of her had hoped; had hoped that Potter was actually maturing; had hoped that there was actually an ounce of responsibility inside of the bespectacled boy. Merlin, she had been thick. Sometimes, she felt as if she were too trusting.

"That's just wrong," Dorcas said darkly, glaring at a blank piece of wall. "Did you tear him to pieces, Lily? Because I'll gladly do it."

Lily faltered. "No. I…uh…well…I ran."

Marlene chuckled. "That's bold."

"Oh, shut up."

Now that she had time to actually think, she really should have done something. At the least she could have approached them and told them off, yelled at them for being so insensitive and daft. Her only defense for her actions, or lack thereof, was that the shock of finding out that she had been used had meddled with her central nervous system.

"Well, you know what you've got to do now, don't you?" Marlene continued. There was a look in her eyes that was quite…empowering?

"Hex Potter until he can't see straight?"

"Get him back."

Lily looked up at her friend. "You mean, revenge?"

Marlene nodded. "Exactly."

Something about this revenge nonsense caused a spark in Lily's eye. It sounded rather…_thrilling_. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Marlene began slowly, leaning forwards on her elbows and peering at Lily closely. "They had a bet that you wouldn't fall for James, right?"

"Yeah…"

Dorcas suddenly brightened as she apparently cottoned on to what point Marlene was trying to make. "And as of now he thinks he's lost, yeah?"

"Correct…"

Now Alice sat up straighter. "Well, what if James began to think that he'd won?"

Lily frowned as she looked between her three dorm mates. Was she the only one who had no idea what in the world they were talking about? "How in the world would he possibly think he'd won? He'd have to be dumber than I originally thought," Lily stated.

"Godric, Lily, for a smart girl you really are quite thick," Marlene stated, grinning coyly.

Lily glared. "I'd appreciate it if someone told me—"

"Use him! Get him back! Make him think you like him and, when he finally thinks he has the bet in the bag, dump his sorry buttocks," Dorcas cleared up.

There was a silence before—

"No."

All three girls looked surprise. Clearly, they thought that Lily was crazy at denying the opportunity. "_What?!_"

"You want me to pretend to like Potter? Oh, please. That's like asking Potter to give up his Quidditch captain badge."

"But—"

"Really, as much as it sounds like a good way to get revenge…no. I refuse to even talk to Potter let alone seduce him," Lily explained.

"Alright. Fine," Dorcas began, throwing her hands up in defeat. "You leave us no choice." Lily looked between Dorcas, Marlene and Alice.

"Lily," Alice said, "we _dare_ you to pretend to like James Potter."

Smirking, Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly, like I'm going to actually fall for that. We're not thirteen year olds anymore."

Marlene fumbled through a drawer in the small table beside her bed. "We may not be thirteen, but that doesn't mean that our rules of Truth or Dare still don't stand." From within the drawer, Marlene extracted a crumpled and slightly yellowing piece of parchment. Across the top, in Lily's childhood handwriting, was scribbled the title 'Truth or Dare; Gryffindor's Guide'.

"You still have that?" Alice asked in disbelief.

"I sure do," Marlene answered proudly.

"And," Dorcas cut in as Lily's eyes began to widen, "as rule number seven states, 'if a dare is necessary to hold up a Gryffindor's reputation it must be followed through.'"

Lily smiled, obviously thinking that her friends were pulling her leg. "You can't be serious." Her smile flickered as no one came to her rescue. She knew she had always hated Truth or Dare.

"We don't need to remind you of the rules, Lily, seeing as you wrote them, do we?" Alice offered kindly.

No, Lily, unfortunately, understood the rules pretty clearly. If she refused to do it, she would have to kiss Severus Snape. Literally. She would really have to. To insure it back in the day, Lily had placed a spell on the rules parchment; if a person refused to answer a truth or do a dare, they would constantly be drawn towards the side of the greasy Slytherin. She really hated herself for being so clever and naïve when she had been younger.

"It's either Snape, or James," Marlene said, grinning.

Lily would have chosen Snape…if she didn't secretly find the idea of using James as satisfying. She was a girl, after all, and girls can become quite nasty if they're played with the wrong way. Did she want to avenge everything James had done to her? Merlin yes. Did she want to stoop to his level? Well, quite honestly, no. As her thoughts roamed, a picture of an extremely unattractive, hooked nosed teenager cropped into her mind. Bad images, bad images...

What's a girl to do?

...She looked between her friends faces...

Get revenge on James Potter, of course.

* * *

_Oh dear...decisions, decisions. Well, there you have it. Another dare that involves Lily and James...what could go wrong this time? Hm...only time will tell. Oh, and don't worry, the fact that James lied to Lily about rescheduling patrol duty will come back around. Whoever guesses the real reason why James had to cancel gets a...penny? lol Aw well, it's pretty easy to figure out anyway. :)_

_Next chapter: Lily puts her seducing skills to the test. Oh poor James. Bwahaha. _

_Thanks for reading and please leave a review! I'm on spring break this week so as long as my computer cooperates I should have another chapter up soon. Happy Easter everyone!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** _Have I mentioned yet that I don't own Harry Potter? Oh, well, just in case, that guy with the scar on his head isn't mine_.

**A/N:** _Thanks to all of you who reviewed!!! Sharnie, -Jeisa-, messyblackhair66, pigs can fly, Idrinklead, Isolde Eris, CaramelBoost, amieken, MarisAlexia, Mouse and Stupid Productions, RoseLizzi, zhangie, love-tear-perish, SparklingEyesWithACrazyMind, and darth spots and darth stripes. You guys are amazing, as usual. Reviews really do make me feel happy._

_Man, I really need to get better at updating more quickly. I know, I know, it has been like a month since I last updated. I'm sure you're sick of my excuses by now, so I'll just say I'm sorry and I'll try to do better. :) So, on with the chapter I say. (Wow, that must be one of my shortest A/N yet.) I dunno if this is my best chapter, but it's as good as I could get it. Hopefully you like it..._

* * *

**Chapter 6: Phase One**

Lily paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, much like a prowling cat. Every few seconds she'd stop and glance towards the portrait hole, a pensive look on her face, before she would begin her stalking again.

The dare had just been handed out, and already Lily was getting ready to put it into action. It was later that night and the four girls were in the common room, the flames in the grate casting a warm glow throughout the room. However, the crackling fire did nothing to soften Lily's nerves.

"Shouldn't we start off with something less…drastic?" she asked suddenly, swinging her head around to face the three girls who were watching her from the couch.

"Drastic? You think this is drastic? Merlin, one can only imagine how you're going to react once we get to phase eight of your dare," said Marlene, throwing her dark hair over her shoulder easily.

Observing her friend carefully, Lily gulped, already fearing the answer to her unasked question. "Phase _eight_?"

Just from the look in her friend's eyes, Lily knew she wasn't going to like phase eight very much. "Going on a date with him, of course," Marlene answered.

Something between a yelp and a cough flew from Lily's throat. Yep, she didn't like that at all. "_Date_?"

Dorcas, Marlene, and Alice shared an amused smile as Lily resumed her now frantic pacing again, muttering chosen obscenities under her breath.

"Maybe we should just stick with phase one for now, yeah?" Dorcas suggested. "No sense in her getting worked up already."

Lily scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest protectively, although she totally agreed with Dorcas. Phase one was hard enough to get prepared for; she didn't need to get confused with the other phases as well. Her heart pounded fast just thinking about what she was about to do. Whether this reaction was out of dread or excitement, Lily wasn't quite sure. It was possibly a combination of both.

_Stupid phase one. It's going to be impossible_, Lily thought savagely, glaring at her friends who stared back at her, confused as to why she was staring at them as if she were wishing for them to die.

What exactly was phase one?

Control her temper when around the Quidditch prodigy himself.

Wow, just thinking about it made her want to laugh at the preposterous proposal. Never had she been able to hold her tongue when James Potter had strutted across her path. Whenever he had screwed up or done something to tick her off, she'd always been right there to slap him back into his place. She knew that they should have started off with something easier.

"Wouldn't it be better to have phase one be something along the lines of having to pass him the potatoes at dinner?" Lily asked rather pathetically.

She scowled as her friends snorted with laughter. "Oh, honestly, Lily," Marlene commented like she was Lily's mother.

"You know you're excited about this," Alice stated quite simply, placing the book she'd been reading on the small table beside her.

"Otherwise," Dorcas cut in, "you wouldn't have agreed to it."

Lily mumbled something incoherently, but she couldn't stop the corners of mouth from creeping upwards into the tiniest of grins. Alright, so she really was looking forward to finally avenging everything Potter had ever done to her. It was quite thrilling actually. For once, she had the upper-hand on the Maruaders; none of them would ever see it coming. Potter wouldn't guess that she'd learned about their insolent bet, and the knowledge that she knew something that he didn't gave her a very powerful feeling indeed.

The plan was sort of like luring a mouse into one of those Muggle wooden killing machine contraptions, except without all of the violence and blood. The cheese bait was Lily; the mouse was James Potter. Upon entering the scene from his late night scavenging, the mouse would hesitantly approach the cheese—the object of his affections—and then _snap_The trap would go off, the cheese would be saved from any nibbling, and the poor mouse would be caught up in the plan to destroy him.

Currently, the only missing part of their plan was the mouse. They hadn't seen hide or hair of Potter since earlier that evening at the Quidditch pitch. Lily knew he was probably out wrecking havoc with his band of miscreants, after finding out that he'd lied to her about switching patrol duties. But, seeing as Hogwarts was a pretty large place and considering the fact that Lily didn't want to go out and find them, the girls' only option was to wait up in the common room.

"I'm tired," Dorcas whined childishly an hour later from her spot in front of the fire. Marlene was dozing on the arm of the couch lazily, Alice was curled up in an armchair, and Lily had her head in her arms as if she were going into the fetal position.

"Me—" Alice broke off, yawning—"too."

"They are way out of bounds now," Lily said darkly. "Out and about three hours past curfew…"

"Don't even think about it, Lils," Marlene said, her eyes closed.

"What?"

"You know what."

Lily groaned and rolled her eyes. This was going to be way harder than she thought. She knew that on first instinct she'd want to get straight to the punishing upon the Marauder's entrance, but under the given circumstances…

_The dare will get him back_.

Two hours later Lily's wristwatch began to beep at a high pitch, signaling that two o'clock had just passed and three o'clock in the morning had just begun. Lily curled her feet further up into a ball on the couch she was currently snoozing on. Dorcas mumbled something incoherently in her sleep, Marlene's foot twitched, and Alice shifted positions from her spot on the floor. They had all tried to resist their persuasive, drooping eyelids, but alas the sound of the cackling fire had rocked them off to sleep and the closest they were going to get to starting phase one would be in their dreams.

"Padfoot, stop pushing me, you great mutt!"

"S'not my fault! I tripped on rat-tail, here."

"Hey!"

There was a fair bit of shuffling as the portrait hole leading into the common room creaked open. Sounds of footsteps, heavy breathing, and more protests were heard as a group of boys attempted to scurry through the portrait hole all at the same time.

"It'd be a lot easier with the cloak off."

"Someone could be up."

"It's three in the flippin' morning, Prongs."

"Hey, look, it's Lily!"

The footsteps immediately stopped in their tracks and any noise that had previously been around ceased.

"Is she awake?"

"No, no, I think she's asleep." There was a silence. "Merlin, they're all down here! How come we weren't invited to the sleep over?"

Three voices gasped audibly, like they had all just seen something incredibly frightening, as the redhead on the chair moved her hand from her stomach to a spot underneath her head. No one moved. No one dared to breathe. A few seconds later, after it was apparent that she was still, in fact, asleep, three relieved exhales of breath echoed around the empty room.

The sound of rustling silk fabric broke the tense silence. "C'mon. We have the cloak; they wouldn't be able to see us even if they were awake."

Apparently the other boys consented to that fact, and the sound of their footsteps struck back up again as they maneuvered invisibly around the room and towards a set of stairs leading up to the boys' dormitory. All was quiet, until—

"Wormtail, watch out for that—!"

_Bang_

Too late.

Wormtail, not receiving the warning early enough, hadn't seen the forgotten school bag lying on the floor. There was a rather high pitched squeal—accompanied with the sound of a string of curse words—as a desk, complete with a chess board, toppled over onto the floor. The game pieces scattered noisily.

And then a secession of highly painful and unlucky proceedings—well, for the group of boys anyway—happened all at once.

"What the—?!"

The three once-sleeping girls jumped at the sudden clatter of Wormtail's klutziness; Alice jerked up from the floor, her head colliding with Dorcas's feet sharply. Lily jumped from her chair clumsily and landed on the ground with an uncomfortable plop while Marlene, wide eyed, leapt to her feet with her wand in her hand.

There was a befuddled moment while the girls untangled themselves from their awkward positions. Marlene, having been able to stay on her feet, was the first to find the culprit—or culprits—of their rude awakening. Her dark eyes swiveled around the room frantically, ready to berate the unlucky souls, and then she found them in a jumbled collection of limbs.

And, oddly enough, she smiled and lowered her wand.

"Black? Pettigrew?" Her smile grew larger. "_Potter_?"

"_What in the world…_?" Lily cried sleepily, stumbling over towards the commotion and igniting her wand tip as she did so.

Peter was currently massaging his toe, which he presumably broke when he had tripped over the obstruction that had been so rudely placed in his path. Sirius was swearing under his breath as he rubbed his head, apparently having been dragged down along with Peter in the fall. And there in the corner was James Potter, hurriedly stuffing something silvery out of sight. However, they all stopped their current activities when they realized that they now had an audience.

Sirius gazed at the four girls unsteadily. "Would it help matters if I started apologizing profusely?" he asked, applying a wide smile onto his lips.

Now thoroughly awake, the four girls all glanced at each other; Lily, however, looked on the verge of eruption. "No it bloody well wouldn't! Where have you three been? What has been—"

"_Hem, hem_."

Oh shoot. The dare. Phase one. It was all coming back to her now.

Unbeknownst to the three boys, Dorcas, Marlene, and Alice all shot Lily a look that clearly read, 'get your act together'. And, as Lily looked down at Potter, she did get her act together and her face muscles immediately relaxed. Potter was going down…

"What I'm sure Lily was trying to say was that—"

"—was that, we've been worried about you lot," Lily interrupted, a confident gleam in her emerald eyes. The three girls smiled knowingly. The plan was going into affect.

There was a thick silence. Sirius had gone wide eyed. "The fall must have addled my hearing abilities, because I thought I just heard Evans say she'd been worried—"

"—about us?"

"Are we dreaming, Padfoot?"

"Nope, don't think so, Prongs."

The three boys were staring at Lily hard, trying to decipher her unusual behavior. "Is she sleep walking?" Peter asked.

"Of course I'm not, you twit," Lily shot back, her hands on her hips. "But, after Potter didn't return from Quidditch Practice…" Lily had to stop to control herself from snickering at the fact that she actually knew that Potter hadn't been anywhere near a broom.

Man, whoever said revenge wasn't sweet must have been wasted. The pure looks of disbelief on the boys' faces were simply enough to prove this fact. Every single one of them looked like they'd been hit upside the head with a mallet. Lily was really beginning to love this; score one for Lily.

"Funny how I didn't get the memo, though," Dorcas brought up, talking about the fact that she hadn't been at the pretend practice.

"As your captain, I decided to give you a break," James retorted quickly.

He said it in such a believable tone that Lily would have believed him, if she hadn't of already known the truth…and if she hadn't of known he was an incessant liar slash prankster in training.

"Oh, well, in that case…" Lily began.

Standing there, watching the three Marauders sitting on their bums on the ground, oddly enough spurred Lily on. Under normal circumstances, she'd never allow Potter to come within six feet of her flesh, but if she wanted to win this little battle she'd have to throw that goal out the window.

And, with that thought, she offered her hand to James Potter.

"Uh…" James looked at her pink-painted fingernails confusedly as if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with it.

"You're supposed to take it, Potter," Marlene answered to his curious gaze, rolling her eyes.

"He knows what he's supposed to do, McKinnon; he's just gone into shock," Sirius confirmed.

Still unconvinced, James looked around him, as if thinking that no way could Lily Evans actually be offering to help him up from the floor and that she simply must be offering the pleasure to someone else. When he saw no one, he coughed lightly into his hand, clearing his throat.

"Right, thanks, Evans."

The first thought Lily had when James took her hand was that he was in serious need for some moisturizer. Her second thought was that she couldn't believe she was allowing him to touch her. Her final thought before they dropped hands was that she was going to need to soak her hand in some very acidic disinfectant.

She was very aware that Sirius and Peter were gaping at her. She was also very much aware that James was now staring at her, a very odd smile plastered across her face. A blush crept onto her cheeks.

"I suggest you four get off to bed," Lily suggested authoritatively, scratching her neck to try to distract the others from her reddening cheeks.

"Three."

"Huh?"

"You mean three, not four," Sirius corrected her, hoisting himself off of the ground and pulling Peter up with him. "Can't you count, Evans?" The Marauders were missing their fourth partner of crime.

"So," James began, "if you're going to tell on us, Remus had nothing to do with this."

Well, Lily supposed that was sort of sweet, in a very weird way. He probably only wanted to win her over though by pretending to care for others. Too bad; that kind of attitude was sort of attractive.

"Where is Remus?" Dorcas asked.

Sirius shrugged off the question with a wave of his hand, as if the subject of their friend's whereabouts was of no importance. "So, what are you going to do with us, Evans? The usual? Detention for a week? Deduct house points? Report us to McGonagall?—"

"—I'm not going to punish you," Lily said.

However, Sirius carried on. "Slap James? Yell at us? Wait—_what_?"

"You better shove off before I change my mind, Black," Lily warned, crossing her arms.

For a moment, it appeared that the boys could not believe their luck. It was slightly funny how none of them found the girls' behavior, especially Lily's, peculiar enough to question it. They most likely didn't want to push it.

"Well, you heard the good lady," James said, clapping his hands together. "No point in denying Evans from what she desires." He nodded off to her and, for reasons that she herself didn't understand, she winked.

"Ladies," Black greeted in farewell.

"See you, boys," chimed the girls.

Before they disappeared on the staircase leading up to their dorms, James turned around. "Thanks, Evans," he said appreciatively.

It shocked her how genuine it sounded. Too bad he was just being kind in order to win the bet. "Don't count on it again."

Smirking, James nodded. "Wouldn't dream of it. 'Night, Evans."

"Goodnight, Potter."

With a final smirk, he was gone. And then, the four girls high-fived each other victoriously. Lily had survived phase one.

OOO

"You should have been there, Moony," James said, a dreamy expression across his face. The reason for his dream-like state? None other than Lily Evans, of course.

"Yeah, you missed a once in a lifetime event," Sirius stated, chuckling. James punched his friend in the arm.

Remus shielded his eyes from the bright glow of the morning sun as he sat up in his bed. The four boys were currently in the hospital wing. It was tradition after each full moon for them to come down to see their 'furry little friend' the following morning. There really was no reason for Remus to have to stay in the hospital wing however; Madame Pomfrey could heal cuts and bones in a heartbeat, but she always insisted on him staying for a while. The Healer was funny like that.

"You didn't slip her that love potion, did you," Remus asked in a carefree manner.

"Har, har, you're so witty, Moony…for a werewolf anyways," James stated sarcastically.

"And besides," Peter began, "we're saving that particular stash for something else…"

Just then, Madame Pomfrey came bustling towards them with a tray, upon which balanced a variety of different colored potions. The Marauders ceased their discussion. "Out of the way, boys," she stated, shoving past Sirius in order to lean over Remus. She resembled a mother hen protecting her baby chicks. "Feeling alright, Lupin?"

"Yes, ma'am," he responded, before she shoved a spoonful of potion down his throat. He spluttered for a moment.

Satisfied, Madame Pomfrey straightened her back. "Ten more minutes, boys."

Sirius rolled his sleeves up casually. "Oh, come on, ma'am. We're not bothering him."

"Black, what have you done to your arm?" she said immediately, ushering towards him and examining a long scratch that was just beginning to form a scab; it was fresh.

Remus's eyes widened as Sirius quickly pulled his sleeves back down. "I fell," he said automatically. "Nothing to fret about."

She observed him strictly for a moment, before hustling away, muttering about careless, reckless boys and their tendency to get hurt.

"Merlin, she's nosy," Sirius stated.

"You're down to five minutes now," Madame Pomfrey called over her shoulder. Clearly, she had heard his comment.

The group rolled their eyes, familiar with the Hogwarts Healer's antics. "How long is she keeping you for?" Peter asked.

"I should be out by noon," Remus responded, grinning, "and if not, come and smuggle me away."

"Will do, Moony," James agreed, clapping his friends on the shoulder. "Well, I have to go post up some bulletins in the common room."

"Oh?" Remus asked inquisitively.

"I need a new beater on my team," James responded.

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, mean old captain had to suspend one of his best."

"Amelia Evans?"

"The one and only."

"That's rubbish."

James frowned. "Tell me about it. McGonagall made me. Just because Evans was failing three of her subjects doesn't mean my Quidditch team should suffer for it."

Amelia Evans, was in fact, Gryffindor's best Beater. Despite the fact that she was an abnormally big girl for her age—fifteen years old—she flew threw the air with ease. Not to mention her strength and aim was incredible. The only draw back was that she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, to put it nicely, and thus she was just scraping a D in Transfiguration, Potions, and Charms.

"See? Told you Prongs would lead his team to a loss this season," Sirius said proudly, though his eyes were shining jokingly.

Pushing his best friend roughly, James stood up. "You know, I'm lucky to have such a supportive friend like you."

"Thanks."

"I was being sarcastic."

"Huh?" Peter said, jumping into the conversation and out of his chair.

The three healthy boys continued bickering as they made their way throughout the Hospital Wing.

"It means he was joking, Wormtail."

"I know what it means!"

"Why the bloody did you ask then?"

Remus chuckled to himself as he leaned back in his uncomfortable cot. What would he do without those three? Probably live a much more boring life.

* * *

_So, that was a pretty long chapter. I hope that makes up for the month wait._

**Next chapter:** _Phase two...oh dear, what trouble will Lily get herself into now? Ten bucks if you can guess it...oh wait, I don't have ten bucks. Dang it. _

_Well, I'll see all of you lovely people later (Well, I guess I won't see you...maybe I'll read you? Wait, I'm confusing myself...oh well, hopefully you know what I mean.) With that confusing note, please leave a review! Thanks for reading!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** _Me no owney Harry Potty...er...Potter. Hey, it rhymed!_

**A/N:** _WOO! I'm up to 100 reviews! How exciting! And I couldn't have done it without all of you!: darth spots and darth stripes, SparklingEyesWithACrazyMind, -Jeisa- , Desert Mortician, hermione-G-wanna-be, LazyBoyGilmore, SweetSouthernGal, Isolde Eris, Morrisburger, pigs can fly, CaramelBoost, SweetSummerx3, MarisAlexia, shadowfox5, hermy permy, Mrs Claire Potter, messyblackhair66, messyblackhair66, snackadils, C San, and RandomObsessivePsychoFangirl._

James: Oh my gosh! She's back!

Sirius: And it's only been...what...two weeks?

Remus: That's a record...she really does need to get more organized though.

Me: Now guys. Don't diss my skills. I'm the author, therefore I have the power to kill you all off, just like JK Rowling kills off...pretty much all of you. Except for Remus, but I think he's a shoe-in for Deathly Hallows.

Remus, Sirius, James: Good point...

_Yes, it's true, I'm updating and it hasn't even been a month yet! It's a miracle! I think I deserve a round of applause (waits...no one claps...) Aw man. Oh well, I'm just happy that I got it done! I'm actually surprised about how many people actually guessed correctly about what phase two was going to be. Bravo to all of you who got it right (you'll find out if you're right or not in this chapter...tehehe). _

_Now before we get on with the chapter (although I wouldn't be surprised if half of you have skipped over this author's note yet...) I have a few questions/comments from reviewers that I feel like responding to. I would have sent out replies to your reviews...but I ran out of time and this way is easier, so there! HA. Okay, fine, I'll send out replies this time around._

darth spots and darth stripes : _Ouch, they thought your ipod was a bomb? That's a disgrace to the good workers at the Apple company...lol. Yeah, track! WOO! I'm a sprinter, so I do the 4x100 relay, 100, and 200. It's quite fun!_

Desert Mortician: _Who said I wasn't going to have Lily crush James's heart? lol Personally, I got kind of tired reading about the two of them falling in love over a dare or something, so that's part of the reason why I decided to write this. I think Lily deserves a bit of revenge, don't you?_

hermy permy: _Oh, you are good. I was hoping someone would catch up on that..._

_So, have fun, go read, please review, all that good jazz!_

* * *

**Chapter 7: To Fly, or Not to Fly?**

"Go on, Lily."

"Give him a wave."

"He's right there."

Despite herself, Lily grinned and pushed Marlene and Dorcas slightly. "Shut up. He'll hear you," she said as she looked to her left as they descended into the common room.

And sure enough there he was standing near the Gryffindor notice board, his wand out. Sirius stood by his side and the two were laughing about some joke or another. They were tacking some kind of poster onto the bulletin board. As the girls drew closer, the boys looked up from their work.

_Now. Do it now._

"'Morning Potter," Lily stated, giving a short wave of her hand in his general direction. She even allowed her mouth to turn upwards into a grin.

For a second, a look of surprise spread throughout his features, causing a ripple effect throughout his body. First his arm twitched as if he were going to wave in return but thought better of it. Next he blinked rapidly as if trying to clear his vision (but didn't he wear glasses for that?). Finally, he smiled warmly, though he looked a bit tired. Lily watched amusedly as he stepped towards her.

"Hey, Evans." He stared at her, shook his head slightly, and then nodded off to Marlene and Dorcas. "Ladies."

Getting unnerved with maintaining eye contact with James Potter that long, Lily glanced over James's shoulder and jumped slightly when she met a pair of narrowed eyes watching her. Sirius was leaning up against the notice board, a pile of papers in his arms, as he peered closely at the redhead. When he noticed that Lily had caught him, he cocked his head to the side like a confused dog. Lily wasn't really sure what that look meant, but knowing the Marauders—especially Sirius Black—it was never a good thing.

"…Quidditch practice this afternoon," James was informing Marlene, "but it'll have to finish early because Evans and I have a meeting with Dumbledore—isn't that right, Evans?"

_Shoot…am I being that obvious?_ Lily thought, not hearing James addressing her as she continued to observe Sirius's unusual demeanor.

"What are you looking at, Black?" Lily shot at him abruptly, interrupting James's conversation.

He straightened his back and stood up tall, casually shifting his weight from one foot to the other. All eyes were on him now. "Nothing," he replied innocently, "well, except for the fact that there's dried toothpaste on your robes, but other than that…"

James quickly turned his snort of laughter into a cough as Lily looked down. Bugger, there actually _was_ toothpaste on her robes; how had that gotten there? More importantly, why hadn't her friends noticed it before they left their dorm? "Screw you, Black," she retorted, whipping out her wand and magically vanishing the mess.

"Anytime, Evans."

"Boys…" Marlene clucked her tongue impatiently as she grabbed Lily around the arm in order to stop her from doing anything rash. She couldn't blow her cover this soon. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw James punch Sirius in the shoulder.

"Let's go get some breakfast, yeah?"

As the girls exited the common room, Lily realized something. She never did find out what kind of poster Potter and Black were putting up…

OOO

Remus returned to classes later that afternoon. He strolled into Potions, trying to go unnoticed. Unfortunately for him, James and Sirius were his best friends, and being his best friends the two had decided that he needed a welcome back applause. Grinning out of both embarrassment and happiness, he scurried to his seat and promptly whacked his two friends upside their heads.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor," he apologized, pulling out his book from his school bag.

Slughorn beamed. "Not a worry, my dear boy." He looked around the classroom, the steam from the heating cauldrons making it hard for him to see. Finally, his squinting eyes landed on Lily and he placed his hands on top of his round stomach jovially. "I'm sure Miss Evans can catch you up. Why don't you go join her?"

Lily's head shot up, her hair tied back in a frizzy ponytail, the hot steam causing her usually smooth hair to puff out. Work with a Marauder? Why did her professor always pair her up with the trouble makers of the class? Well, at least it was only Remus. He was tamable, or more so than the others at least.

"Hey, Lily."

Remus plopped his bag down at the edge of Lily's table and pulled up a chair. "Remus, glad to see you're well."

"Madame Pomfrey did her magic on me, I suppose."

Lily added a bit of Salamander Newt to the potion, and it immediately turned a light green color. "I thought Black told me yesterday you're mum was sick?"

_Aha. She'd caught him._

She watched Remus closely, who instantly paled and began fidgeting with the hem of his robes. "Yeah, she _was_ sick…and, you know, I must have caught it from her." He dodged her gaze by picking up his Potions book and skimming through it hastily, flipping the pages rather quickly. No one could read _that_ fast.

"Remus," she said quietly, leaning over her cauldron as an excuse to get closer to his ear, "_I know._"

His foot twitched and he kicked the leg of their table, causing a resounding noise to filter throughout the room. It was lucky that loud bangs weren't unusual in Potions class—or any Hogwarts lessons come to think of it—because no one paid Remus's now colorless face any attention.

"You...know?"

Lily nodded, and backed away, picking up her knife once again. "It's alright," she said offhandedly, cutting up her roots. "It doesn't matter."

"How long?" he whispered, not taking his eyes off her.

"Well, it was kind of hard to not notice that my fellow Prefect disappeared once a month."

"Oh…"

There was a silence as Lily stirred their potion and Remus hid his worried eyes behind his book. Setting down her ladle, Lily carefully glanced around her to make sure they weren't being overhead. Usually Potions class was so hands-on that she needn't worry.

"There is one thing that worries me, however…"

He jerked up. "What?"

"Your friends, and what they were doing out with you last night." She had been thinking about that question ever since last night. They must have been out with Remus; she assumed that they all knew about his condition, being practically brothers and all.

For a moment he simply watched her carefully, as if weighing out the possibilities of how much she already knew. His hand holding the text book began shaking and he gently lowered it down onto the table. "With me?" he repeated slowly, cautious not to look towards his fellow Marauders for help; if he did, it would only make her believe that he was nervous.

"Well, I assumed that's where they were. I mean, it was obvious they weren't really having Quidditch practice until three in the morning…" she explained matter-of-factly.

"Why didn't you tell them off then?" Remus retorted, skirting around the original question by turning this around on her.

For the first time, she looked up at him and met his gaze. "It wouldn't have accomplished anything," she said quickly, her face heating up.

"That's never stopped you before."

Now it was Lily's turn to pale. "I—"

"—And time's up everyone. Bring up a sample of your concoction to be graded," Professor Slughorn weaved throughout his students. Lily and Remus both jumped when Slughorn clapped them both around the shoulders. "Oh, look here! See the lime green color? Now, that's perfection. Ten points to Gryffindor."

Lily clambered to gather up all of her stuff and was just about to walk out of the classroom to go meet her friends when a hand took hold of her upper arm. As the class filtered out of the door, Remus pulled Lily aside and closer towards him. He glanced behind him quickly to see how close Sirius and James were before he leaned in.

"Look, we both seem to have something to hide. I won't pester you about yours if you don't look into mine and my friends'," he said quickly, his breath tickling her ear.

She grinned coyly. "So they _are_ involved?"

If he was stricken by her comment, he didn't show it. "I bet your friends are involved in yours too," he responded.

Her mouth dropped open to retort. "There is nothing going on—"

"Look, it's nothing personal—"

"—Seems like it—

"—but it really is none of your business."

She opened her mouth to retort, but he continued, quicker and quieter than before as his friends approached.

"Deal?"

Remus had never spoken to her like this before. Whatever other secret he was holding, it had to be a huge, serious one. Could it be Potter's bet? No, because that didn't fit with the whole werewolf thing…

"Fine."

They stared at each other. "Oi, Moony, come on. Lunch waits and I'm starving," Sirius's voice rang out.

"See you, Lily."

And with that, Remus was gone. Lily stood against the cool stone wall and she found that she was breathing abnormally heavily. She had to give Potter one thing; he did have annoyingly observant friends. How was it possible that only one day into the dare and already Sirius and Remus were suspicious? Or maybe she was just being paranoid.

Maybe neither of them knew anything. Sirius could have just been being…well…Sirius. He had always found it amusing to humiliate her. As for Remus—well, Remus could have only made it seem like he knew something so that she wouldn't pry into his and his friends' business. A way to blackmail her.

Yeah, that was it. There was no way that they knew she was using James. All she had done was fail to give him detention, let him and his friends off the hook, and had greeted him that morning. There was nothing too odd about that.

One thing was for sure though—she was going to do her best to figure out the Marauders' secrets. And, the best way to do that was to get to James. Darn her curious nature. Now she definitely was not giving up on this dare…

OOO

"I'm ready for phase two," Lily announced to her friends later at dinner.

She hadn't told her friends about her encounter about Remus. First of all, she'd have to explain to them that Remus was a werewolf, and she was almost positive that they didn't know. It wasn't her secret to tell, and she would honor that. She liked Remus, and would hate to do anything to jeopardize his stay at Hogwarts. Second of all, her knew found desire to find out what Remus was hiding had turned the vengeful dare into a complicated whirlwind of _using_ James Potter to get to his friends. She had an odd, but honest, feeling that her friends wouldn't approve of that.

Merlin, she didn't even know if she felt good about it.

Dorcas looked up from her mashed potatoes and Alice actually stopped writing her abnormally long letter to Frank at Lily's propostion.

"Excellent," Dorcas stated, rubbing her hands together in excitement. "Now, we've been thinking—"

"—and decided," Marlene continued, "that it's always considerate for potential girlfriends to pretend to be interested in something that the guy enjoys—" She cut off as a shadow loomed over her.

"Hey, McKinnon, pass these papers along down the table, won't you?" Sirius asked, shoving a stack of parchment into the girl's hands without waiting for an answer.

"We were kind of having a discussion here. Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?" she retorted, placing the stack of papers beside her without glancing at them.

Sirius grinned. "If you call hating anyone that isn't pureblood and supporting Voldemort as manners, then yeah, I guess my mum did teach me some—or tried to at least. See you later, girls." He walked away and then turned around sharply. "And don't forget; pass on the papers."

"As I was saying," Marlene continued, rolling her eyes, "we think you should do something he's interested in."

"Do something Potter's interested in?" Lily asked for confirmation.

"Yep," Dorcas responded, waving her spoon around enthusiastically and flinging applesauce on the poor second year sitting beside her.

"Potter's only interests are pranks, girls, and the Marauders, none of which I'm too fond of," Lily said, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

Alice rolled up her letter. "You could help him with a prank."

"Yeah, 'cause that wouldn't be obvious at all," Dorcas said sarcastically.

"Well," Marlene began, picking up the stack of papers Sirius had given her and passed them to her right, towards Lily, "there must be something."

Lily took the pieces of parchment, kept the top one, and passed it to a fifth year boy on her right. "We'll come up with something…" She looked down curiously at the paper she now held in her hands.

**Do you enjoy hitting things?**

**Do you usually hit your target?**

**Perhaps you should consider being a Gryffindor Beater!**

**Tryouts are this Friday at six o'clock. **

**Come out and show your lion support!**

The first instinct that she felt was the need to laugh at the poorly drawn picture of what appeared to be Potter on a broomstick near the bottom. It looked more like a black glob on a stick. "Those boys are ridiculous…"she joked with her friends, setting down the paper and picking up her fork again.

And then, one by one, the four girls looked up from their various activities to stare at one another.

They all grinned victoriously.

"Do something that he's interested in…" Marlene repeated slowly.

"And it's not a prank…" Alice said.

"Potter loves Quidditch," Lily stated. No, he didn't just _love_ Quidditch; it was practically his life. If he had a choice between food or Quidditch, Lily was sure he'd pick a broomstick over a necessity for life. It was the obvious answer to their dilemma. It was—

"Perfect," Lily finished.

Sirius had just handed phase two straight into their hands.

OOO

Lily sat in the back of the library, her head bent over a piece of parchment that she was currently using to write her latest Charms essay. Her long, red hair swept over her arm and she hastily pushed it over her shoulder. She found her focus slipping…

Her friends were currently scoping out other hopeful Gryffindors who were going to show up at the Beater tryouts in order to get a sense of the competition. She hoped that none of the competitors were going to be any good. It wasn't that Lily disliked flying; it was just that she wasn't the most coordinated of people. In first year, during their first flying lesson, she'd got bucked off her broom after two seconds of being on it. Then she'd almost slipped and flipped right over the head of the raging stick when she'd gone into too deep of dive. Yeah, her memories with a broomstick weren't happy ones, but she did enjoy being up in the air.

Perhaps Dorcas should give her a few lessons before Friday.

"Stop thinking about Potter, Lily, and focus," she muttered to herself, placing the palm of her hand on her forehead. Now, what were the three ways of disarming an opponent?

"You know," said a deep voice from behind her, "it's unhealthy to talk to yourself."

Lily placed her hands over her eyes and pushed into them hard until her vision erupted into tiny stars. Maybe she was imagining things…perhaps Potter wasn't right behind her...

But that theory was immediately tossed out the window. She tensed and dropped her hands from her face when he placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's also unhealthy to get stressed over homework."

"Potter."

Her mind was going blank as his large hand moved across her shoulder to a spot right below her shoulder blade. What in the world did he think he was doing? "I thought you had Quidditch practice," she stated, trying to keep calm.

_The dare, the dare, the dare…_

His hand was really beginning to annoy her. If it weren't for the dare, she would have slapped him by now. Casually, she moved her elbow to her left and knocked her quill to the ground. Using that as an excuse, she shrugged off his hand and bent down to retrieve her writing utensil. When she emerged, he'd taken a seat beside her.

"Yeah…it was quite pointless though with only one Beater," he replied, pulling her half-finished essay towards him without her consent.

"I see…"

She watched him as his hazel eyes zoomed across her work. That was the main problem with Potter; he had no respect for people's personal space. He always had to be up in everyone's business.

"You misspelled _desinobrevis_, and it doesn't disarm an enemy; it only stops their spell momentarily," James corrected suddenly, pushing the essay back towards her.

Lily huffed loudly, her pride stung that James Potter was correcting her in her best subject. "No, I'm pretty sure it makes the opponent drop their wand."

"No," James argued back, but his tone of voice was offending, "you're confusing it with _decidobrevis_."

Her eyes scanned her parchment and then she pulled her Charms book towards her and flipped to the chapter on Disarming spells. There was a short period of time where Lily read the section. Then, swallowing her pride, she glanced up at him and grinned sheepishly in a rather tight way.

"Er…Thanks," she said wearily, scratching out her mistake and fixing it again.

He simply grinned and watched her.

For a while, the only sound was the scratching of her quill. Why was he sitting here helping her anyways? He must really want those five galleons from Sirius. Too bad, because if Potter acted like this all the time…

"Say, Evans, do you know anyone who may be a good Beater?" he asked, rocking his chair backwards onto its two back legs.

She dotted her last period, and then rolled up her essay. "Perhaps…" she said, purposefully toying with him. If he was going to annoy her while she tried to do her homework, she might as well bug him as well. She smirked.

James allowed his chair to fall back onto all four legs with a snap. He looked over at Lily. "Perhaps? Perhaps as in yes, but you don't want to tell me? Or perhaps, as in, no but you want to make me crazy with anticipation?"

Throwing her quill into her bag, Lily threw a strand of hair out of her face. "I guess you'll have to wait until Friday to find out, Potter."

Dear Merlin, she was flirting with him, and it was actually kind of fun. Well, fun as in it was funny to see the different reactions taking place on his face. He didn't know quite what to make of her. It was as if he wasn't sure if it was a joke and therefore didn't know if he could laugh or not, or if it was that she really did know someone but liked withholding the information from him.

"You're cruel, Evans," he said, brushing his hands off on his pants.

Giving him one last look, Lily swung her bag over her shoulder. "You know," she began, "your future Beater could be right under your nose." She grinned innocently and then flaunted out of the library, feeling his eyes on her back the whole way out.

* * *

_Oh, I do love writing those James and Lily encounters. I can't wait until this story really starts to pick up... I guess I should use that as an incentive to write faster...I'll do my best. _

**Next chapter:**_ Beater tryouts! What fun!_

_I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please review! It'll make my otherwise boring day a bit more brighter! lol OH! and as a side note, I saw Pirates of the Caribbean 3 last night with my friends. IT WAS SO AMAZING! But it made me depressed. That's all I'm going to say. If you haven't already, go and see it! It really is worth it!_

_Anyways, have a great day!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** _Does anybody have a quarter I can borrow so I can buy myself a gumball out of one of those germ-infested machines?_

**A/N:** _Thanks to the following reviewers: fudge-butter, Claudita, -Jeisa-, SweetSummerx3, Brianna Katelyn Evans, CaramelBoost, Red-Devil15, -xAndromedaBlackx-, aj, Cristipotter, hermy permy, fishertowers, queen.of.queens, blendernizedbob, Morrisburger, Isolde Eris, pigs can fly, messyblackhair66, SweetSouthernGal, RandomObsessivePsychoFangirl, and MarisAlexia. REally, thanks a lot. Your reviews put a smile on my face. See? I'm smiling now! I know some of you got replies to your reviews, but I also know that some of you didn't. Sorry. I got really confused and I forgot who I already had replied to and who I hadn't. It really messed with my head. lol I'll do better this time around, promise!_

_Dang! I'm updating again! Yay! I'm on a roll! Tehe_

_ONE MORE WEEK OF SCHOOL! Holy toledo, I'm so excited! I love the summer...sigh...can't wait! Anyways, let's just get right into the story, how does that sound?_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Phase Two: Hit the Ball, Not Your Teammate**

Everything was always peaceful out in the Hogwarts grounds at dusk. The air always held that sweet smell; the kind of smell that holds a hint of musty grass and muddy pond water. Though it sounded disgusting, it actually smelled…_nice_. In fact, the Hogwarts grounds were the only place where a person could really stop their busy lives and just breathe. That's one of the reasons James liked it so much. It was his time to just get away from his Head Boy duties, his Quidditch captain responsibilities, and his load of homework that was currently sitting under his bed.

James meandered over towards the Quidditch pitch, his feet automatically directing him there. He smiled as he thought about retrieving his broom from the changing rooms and taking a quick fly around the pitch. Flying always relaxed him.

And the grounds were always so peaceful.

That's why James almost had a heart attack as a piercing shriek shot up into the air and caused the hairs on his arms to stand up.

"What in the name of Merlin…" he said to himself, regaining his breath and approaching the Quidditch gates.

And what he saw almost made him die with laughter.

Lily Evans stood in the middle of the pitch, her back towards him and her feet firmly rooted to the ground as if she refused to move another step. Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice stood around her.

James saw, with amusement and slight befuddlement, that Lily held a broom between her legs.

"There's no way," Lily was saying, shaking her head back and forth so that her red hair bounced up and down against her back. "There's no _bleeding_ way."

Hiding himself behind the stands, James poked his head around to watch what was going on. Lily had never shown any fancy towards flying, or brooms in general. In fact, he clearly remembered her swearing off of them after their first ever flying lesson back in first year. He hadn't known her then, of course, but he could still see the terrified look on the redhead's face after her broom had bucked her off. Sirius had even taken a blackmail picture.

"C'mon, Lily," Marlene coaxed, "this is the only way…"

"Screw bloody Potter, then," Lily shouted, her grip on the school broom lacking and it fell to the ground with a soft thud. "I'm through with this…it nearly _killed_ me? Did you see that?"

Potter? What? What did he have to do with anything? And she had almost been killed? Had the broom attempted to flip her off again? Man, Lily and brooms really didn't mesh well together. Then, what the heck was she doing?

"You hadn't even gotten off of the ground. You tripped over your own feet, you git," Dorcas pronounced, scooping down and picking the broom back up off the grassy ground. James chuckled quietly to himself. "Now…hold it."

Lily placed her arms across her chest firmly, hiding her hands from view. "_You_ hold it."

James heard Alice laugh. "Lily, you're being ridiculous."

"Why don't you ride it then," Lily retorted wildly, her eyes swiveling around to fix her friend with a harsh stare.

"I prefer to have support underneath my feet, thanks," Alice responded. The other two girls immediately slapped their hands to Alice's mouth to stop her from speaking again. She clearly wasn't helping Lily's nerves.

Should he step in? Interfere?

As he contemplated this thought, Marlene seemed to have decided to begin a different way of persuasion; bribery. Cold, hard bribery. "Lily, so help me Godric, if you don't get on this broom, I'll personally tell Potter—"

"—Go ahead! I don't care!"

Tell him what? He leaned forward in anticipation, hoping Marlene would finish her sentence.

"You'd have to kiss Snape though," Dorcas further pointed out.

Snivellus? He shuddered involuntarily. Okay, really, no one deserved that punishment. Just as Lily was about to retort, James decided to take action. He was the captain of Quidditch after all, and if Lily had to ride a broom—for whatever reason her friends had her doing it—then who else would be better at teaching her?

"Right, you're going about this all wrong," he said, stepping out from behind the bleachers and approaching the group of girls as if he'd just arrived on the scene.

Lily instantly paled. "Potter, what are you doing here?"

James grinned. "Am I not allowed to be here?"

Marlene, Alice, and Dorcas eyed Lily. They seemed to be trying to communicate with her…was he not supposed to know something that they did?

"Oi, Potter, perhaps you can get her on the blasted broom," Marlene suggested; Dorcas nodded enthusiastically and shoved the broom into his hands.

Lily glared. "I'm not getting on that…_devil._"

"Now, really, that's a bit harsh," James joked, taking a step closer towards Lily, switching the broom from one hand to the other. He watched her expression as he walked closer towards her; her eyes were following him nervously. Was he making her nervous? Or was it the stick in his hand?

"No, it's a bit harsh that _it_ keeps hurting me!"

Yeah, it was the stick.

"You tripped for Godric's sake," Dorcas cried, waving her arms around.

"But I wouldn't have tripped if a stick hadn't been between my legs!"

There was a short silence. "That's it," Marlene said like a crazy woman, "_that's it_, I'm done. This is hopeless."

James merely stood, watching the semi-fight quietly, not really sure if he should intervene or not. If he did, one of two possible things could happen. One, he could say something stupid and all the girls would gang up on him. Or two, he'd say something smart and they'd still gang up on him. Girls were just weird like that.

However, it wasn't him who had to bring himself into the conversation. Dorcas was the one who dragged him in, apparently deciding he'd been too quiet. "Potter, you're a fairly good Chaser—"

"—Only fairly? Thanks, Meadowes."

"Lily, Potter's gonna take over."

And before he could even respond—like he would have denied helping Evans anyway—the three girls all winked at Lily and left rather quickly, all of them muttering about Quidditch-challenged friends as they scurried away. What the hell? Girls were so strange.

He looked back at Lily who was shaking her head slightly to each side, her eyes narrowed at her friends' retreating backs. She looked like she'd just sucked on a particularly sour lemon.

Would she hurt him if he said something now? She'd been pretty civil towards him the past couple of days…may as well give it a shot. "So, Evans, what's the problem?" he asked, breaking the silence.

For a moment, he thought she was going to start yelling at him; she had opened her mouth sharply and her eyes had darkened. But then, oddly enough, the tense lines in her forehead relaxed and her fists unclenched. She resembled the air of a person who had just lost miraculously at a game of wits.

"Brooms hate me."

James quickly turned his laugh into a cough. This was just too weird…"Pardon?"

"They hate me. It's like…I'm jinxed…or their jinxed…or _something_," she explained hopelessly, not meeting his eyes. "Don't you dare laugh," she shot at him as an after thought.

"Why are you even trying to ride one then?" he asked logically; he cringed at her glare.

"Are you implying that I'm incapable of flying?"

No—"

"—'cause I'm not!"

"—I never said—"

"—Give me that."

He spluttered helplessly as she wrenched the broom out of his hands and straddled it. She looked over her shoulder towards him. James looked blankly back at her, too shocked after that odd turn of events. Either Evans had just completely gone psycho, or he was a better persuader than he thought.

"Are you gonna help me, or not?" she asked quickly. Her hands were clasping the broomstick so tightly that her knuckles were turning white from the strain.

"Er…" he tried to hurry his brain along in order to get caught up with the current change of events. His mind was still dwelling on the fact that Lily Evans had just willingly got on the broom and was asking him for help. "Yeah…er—right."

"You're not helping."

"Will you just relax," he snapped at her suddenly, striding up to the left side of the broomstick and looking at her. "I'm trying to think."

Wait a second…relax. Yeah, that's what she needed to do. She needed to chill out. Her hands were about to fall off she was clutching the handle so hard.

"Hurry up before I lose my nerve," she said, her face set staring straight ahead of her, her jaw clenched resolutely.

"Alright, alright," he said. He observed her for a second. "Loosen your grip."

"What?"

"Loosen it. It's too tight."

"Are you trying to kill me?"

James rubbed a hand through his hair distractedly. Dear Merlin, this girl was so stubborn, but he already knew that of course. "You'll never be able to enjoy flying if you don't relax."

"Who said I want to enjoy it?"

"Just loosen your grip, Evans!" And before he thought better of it, he reached out and placed his rather large hand on top of her noticeably smaller one. He tried to ignore the warmness of her hand and the swooping sensation he was currently experiencing somewhere near his gut.

She turned her head a fraction of a centimeter to look at him out of the corner of her eye. "Loosen it," he said again, trying to massage her hand into relinquishing the impressively strong hold it had on the broom.

"I'm trying," she said, and James noticed that she was breathing rather quickly. And maybe it was a trick of the light caused by the now setting sun, but was she blushing?

"Look, I can feel your hand; it's not loose."

Her hand was squirming underneath his, unclenching and clenching over and over again. It was as if she was contemplating whether or not his pointers could be trusted or not.

She supposedly decided that he couldn't be trusted because she suddenly sighed angrily. "Your hand isn't making this any easier!" she finally said irritably, wrenching her hand out from under his, and the broom promptly fell from her grasp.

They both looked down at the broomstick on the ground between them. James glanced back up at her. She was watching him with a fixed stare, her breaths shallow and quick. She seemed torn between the desire to yell at him and the desire to show him that she wasn't a pansy when it came to Quidditch. He hoped she'd pick the last one.

"You're a horrible teacher," she said bluntly.

"Yeah, well you're a horrible student." She placed her hands on her hips and huffed loudly. "Look, maybe we should start over."

He bent down and swooped the broom up into his arms. "This," he said, holding it out to her, "is a broomstick."

"You're such an imbecile," she said, although James could have sworn the corner of her mouth twitched.

He immediately gained momentum.

"Here," he reached out and grabbed her wrist; she tensed but didn't pull away. He placed her hand on top of the handle and curled her fingers around it so that they were _loose_ by his standards. "See? It's not so bad," he said, letting go of her wrist.

Lily grinned. "I'm still on the ground though."

"Yeah, well at least you haven't tripped yet."

She slapped him on the arm with her free hand and then swung her leg over the other side of the broomstick so she was sitting on it once again. Where her new sense of confidence had come from, James wasn't sure, but at least they were getting somewhere. Once she had maneuvered her other hand into a comfortable, and loose, position she turned her head to view James smiling approvingly at her.

"See? I'm not a total failure."

"Of course not," he replied, "now, kick off."

Her elbows stiffened and she turned her head so quickly that James could have sworn he heard a crack. "Excuse me?"

"You know, just push yourself off the ground."

Peering at him closely, she swallowed hard. "If I die…"

"—then I'll take care of the flower arrangements."

"Potter!"

"I'm kidding."

It was at this moment that James realized this was the longest conversation he had ever had with Lily that hadn't involved shouting, name calling, or hexes. He wondered slightly what was up with her. Hadn't she been talking about him earlier? Maybe—should he get his hopes up?—maybe, she was beginning to…_like _him? He shook his head, his messy hair flying everywhere.

"C'mon, Evans. I never knew you to be someone who'd be afraid of heights," he said, pushing her by his words. Doubting her skills had worked the first time; she'd gotten on the broom because of it. Maybe she just needed a reason to do it in order to prove somebody wrong. She was a very competitive girl; that's what made arguing with her so easy.

"I'm not afraid," she said indignantly.

Aha. He'd guessed right. He had to challenge her. So he did.

"Then do it."

She looked at him, her emerald eyes narrowed. "Trust me," James continued, nodding his head encouragingly.

Lily looked up at the sky, then to the grass, then to the stars again, and sighed. "I know I'll regret this."

And she kicked off.

OOO

_Alright, breathe, Lily breathe. _

She straightened her robes as Dorcas laced her arm through hers and held her tight. It must have been for moral support. Either that or Dorcas was afraid Lily would try to run away and hide in a broom closet…again. Marlene had found her the first time, unfortunately.

It felt like her heart was going to pump right out of her chest. Oh, Merlin, would she die if that happened? _Oh, stupid Lily, that's not even possible_. But, if she did, she wouldn't have to go to Quidditch tryouts.

Alright, so she _had_ survived that first night of flying lessons with Potter. At least she knew she could at least get the broom off the ground. In fact, Potter had actually done the inevitable. Lily had actually enjoyed flying that night, and she wasn't half bad. He'd been so sweet, so funny; it had calmed her oddly enough. When she thought about it, it really was such a pity that this new side of James Potter was all for some stupid bet. Lily had to admit, she totally could fall for a guy with that kind of personality. Pity…

"Alright, so tryouts don't actually start until six, but I think we should get there early," Dorcas was saying as she dragged Lily along behind her.

Seeing Dorcas so nervous for her soothed Lily's butterflies in her own stomach, funnily enough. It was strange how stuff like that worked out, slightly ironic really. If someone was worrying for her, then she didn't have to. Weird logic, Lily realized, but it was true for her anyways.

"Dorcas, calm down," Lily said, using the arrival of her unexpected confidence to swallow her own nerves. However, her voice still shook slightly, like a badly tuned clarinet or something. "Loosen your grip on my arm, will you?"

Loosen her grip. Hm, yeah. That's all she had to do. Grip the broom handle, but not too tightly. No, that was bad. Loosen her grip. She could do this.

Dorcas, however, chose to ignore Lily's advice, and continued rambling random nonsense under her breath. She kept blurting out tips and facts all the way down the pitch. Instead of heightening her nerves as she would have expected, Lily actually found Dorcas's rambling quite comical so that when Dorcas said, "And make sure you hit the Bludger and not your teammate's head," Lily actually burst out laughing.

"Are you serious? I don't have _that_ bad of aim."

And, just like that, she had jinxed herself. She should have known. Her lack of nervousness and jinx-ness had been too good to be true. Why couldn't she learn to just keep her mouth shut?

"Harley, get up to the Hospital Wing!" James bellowed from his spot up in the air. A crowd of ten hopeful people who had shown up at the tryouts circled the fourth year kid now descending with a bloody nose. In Lily's defense, at least it wasn't broken.

"Sorry," Lily grumbled, punching the air pointlessly.

"Just relax, Evans," James said, flying closer towards her. "You were doing fine."

She nodded and looked towards her friends in the stands, who were all huddled together, looking up at her. For a split second, she could have sworn she saw Marlene wave her wand and she could have sworn she felt something rush past her, like a spell of strong wind...

"Besides," James continued, assuming she needed further support, "Harley wasn't that great anyways. Probably would have ended up hitting himself with his bat if you hadn't done it."

Lily smiled grudgingly. Potter was being too nice. That fourth year was definitely better than herself. She knew it. Potter knew. Everyone knew it. Potter had been taken aback when he saw Lily amidst the crowd of Gryffindors wanting the Beater position. ("So that's why you needed to learn how to fly a broom!") Deep down however, Lily knew that he was dying to laugh at her.

Why was she doing this again?

The tryouts continued. James sent Mark Botley, one of the current Beaters, up with each of the contestants and let the Bludgers loose. Chaos ensued. The first kid hit the Bludger, but was totally off target. Lily looked over and saw James make a noticeable 'X' on his notes. The second and third guys had oddly disappeared right as James called out their names. Something funny happened to the fourth, fifth, six, and seventh competitors. Whenever they went to hit the Bludger, they'd lose their balance. By the time they regained their position, the Bludger had already attacked them and had flown off. The eighth guy was Harley, who was currently up in the sick ward. The ninth guy had trouble holding the bat for more than five minutes, his skinny arms not able to support the weight of the bat.

And then—

"Let's go, Evans," James said.

Lily's heart jumped to her throat, but she nodded determinedly. She had to do this, for herself and for the dare. And besides, she was determined to not hit any other person with her bat.

_Okay. Loose grip? Check._

_Firm stance? Check._

_Bat in hand? Check. _

_Loose grip? Oops, she'd already checked that one off._

_Double check._

OO

"Evans, welcome to the team," James congratulated, handing her a set of red and gold robes.

Grinning victoriously, Lily took them from him. "Thanks." Then her nose wrinkled in disgust as she smelt something funny. "Have these ever been _washed_?" she asked, holding the robes at arms length.

James looked at them closely. "Doubt it. Let's just say, you're much more…er…feminine than Amelia."

"You don't have to be feminine to know how to use some soap and water," she commented.

"No, but you do have to have some brains, and Amelia is currently lacking in that area."

Lily laughed and then caught the sight of her friends waving her over towards them. "Thanks, Potter," she said, touching him on the shoulder briefly before she went to join her friends.

She felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off her chest. Not only had she survived Quidditch tryouts and had won the spot, but she had also just completed phase two of her dare. She had to remind herself to berate Marlene later. It wasn't just ironic coincidence that those four other Gryffindors had failed one after the other at the tryouts. During the earlier practices, they hadn't been _that_ bad.

Lily knew she had seen Marlene's wand at work. Besides, Marlene was unnaturally good at Charms.

And to cap things all off, Lily had decided something; Quidditch wasn't really all that bad.

* * *

_Alright, you are all dismissed!_

_Woot, woot! Go Lily, it's your birthday! We're gonna party like it's your birthday! (Haha, I have a little dancing stuffed hamster that sings to that song) Dang, why am I so random? Anyways, hope you enjoyed it. Meh, I'm not such if I'm in love with this chapter, but it's alright. Thanks for reading!_

_And it'd be really nice if you just pressed that little button and left me a review._ :) _Oh, and a penny to anybody who can guess what phase three will be...oh wait, I don't even have a quarter to get a gumball...dang it! Man, I really do need a job._

_Have a great week! And for those of you who are out already for the summer...I'm totally jealous! Hope you're having fun!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** _Less than a month until Deathly Hallows! If I were J.K. Rowling, I'd be off in the Caribbean somewhere relaxing after finishing such an anticipated book. Seeing as I'm lying in my bed in California and definitely not in the Caribbean, it's safe to say I'm not Rowling._

**A/N:** _Thanks so much to the following reviewers: Missscarlettbelle, CaramelBoost, laxrules18, Mrs Claire Potter, MarisAlexia, the ramen ninja, -Jeisa-, Acelinn, Cristipotter, pigs can fly, Princess of Brooklyn, Isolde Eris, Sogno di Felicita, hermione-G-wanna-be, SweetSouthernGal, SweetSummerx3, rubic-cube, Morrisburger, novel-writer92, hushpuppy22, and Bingo, Right through that hoop. Seriously, I love you. Hm, that sounded wierd, didn't it? Considering I don't really know any of you...aw well, from an author's stand point, you guys ROCK!_

_Wowee! Look at that! Only a two weeks wait! For some reason, it felt longer than that. Maybe it's because it's summer time and I'm lazy. But, you see, I have this wierd writing style. I have to write a whole chapter all in one sit. Like, I can't write some and then come back to it and pick up. I dunno why. I have to do it all in one go, otherwise I lose my train of thought. So, this chapter would have been up sooner, but my first attempt of the chapter turned out very bad. So I had to start from scratch. Anyways, I just realized I'm rambling like a mad woman. lol _

_So, let's just dive back into Lily's confusing world of bets and dares. Have fun reading!_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Call it Intuition  
**

"You know, I've been thinking," Lily said thoughtfully, lowering her potions textbook away from her face slowly.

She and her friends were currently down in the common room, finishing their last minute homework before the weekend ended. Normally, they would have migrated out towards the Hogwarts' grounds, but the bleak November weather proved that to be difficult. Fall seemed to be turning into winter as December approached.

Marlene sucked on the end of her quill, apparently trying to find the right way to describe the effects of the Duplicate spell they'd been learning in Charms. "About what?" she asked, scribbling out a word in her response.

"Getting my own broom," Lily answered.

Eyes shinning excitedly, Dorcas whipped her whole body around in order to view her redheaded friend better. "Are you serious?" she asked.

"Why does that come as such a surprise?" Lily wondered elusively, twirling the ends of her hair around her fingers idly.

Alice looked up from the letter she'd just received from Frank. "Well, it's just that you never really cared for Quidditch that much before."

"And now suddenly you're on the team and all for buying yourself a broom," Dorcas finished, smirking in quite an annoying fashion.

It was as if they thought she had just started liking Quidditch because of Potter. Lily scoffed, crossing her arms. She had never _hated_ Quidditch; she had always come out to support Dorcas at every single game. Granted, she'd always refused to ride on Dorcas's broom over the summer, but that didn't mean she _disliked_ flying. Honestly.

"You're to blame," Lily retorted, picking up her book again. "You were the one who handed me this wretched dare."

Marlene took the quill out of her mouth. "Falling for the sport wasn't part of the dare though."

Lily looked around at her three friends' faces. They were all smirking at her, like they knew what she was thinking better than she did. "Fine; I like it," she admitted.

"Obsessed with it more like," Dorcas corrected.

"I am _not_—"

"You woke me up at five o'clock in the _morning_ yesterday to go flying with you," Dorcas corrected.

Marlene snickered and Alice immersed herself into Frank's letter once again. Grinning, Lily dipped her quill into her pot of ink. "I'll just ask Potter to come with me next time," she mumbled to herself.

The moment she'd said that, the moment she wished she could take it back. "Hey, now _there's_ a thought," Marlene said. "A nice, romantic broom ride—"

"—watching the sunset—" Dorcas jumped in, clutching her hands to her heart dramatically and batting her eye lashes.

"—sharing a kiss as the wind blows your hair about—"

Ugh, all this talk about her and Potter was causing her arms to erupt into unpleasant goosebumps. She yanked the pillow from out underneath her back and raised it up into the air, high above her head, just in the right position to strike—

"Now, I quite like the sound of that."

Lily yelped in surprise as the pillow she'd been about to pummel her friends with was yanked from her hands. Oh Merlin…James Potter was right behind her. If there was ever a time where Lily wished she hadn't been born, it was now.

"Bugger…"

She glared at her friends, clearly telling them she'd deal with them later, before she turned to face him. The Marauders had just returned from Merlin knew where and were standing behind the three girls. Sirius was arguing with Remus about something that sounded like it had to do with itching powder; Peter was standing beside Sirius, obviously spurring the argument on. And James was…staring straight at Lily.

"So, how 'bout it, Evans?" he asked playfully, jumping over the back of the sofa and landing beside Lily.

Her friends nodded encouragingly at her. Merlin, was she really going to have to flirt with him? "Sorry, I kind of have a busy schedule," she said lightly, waving it off, intentionally egging him on and hoping he'd take the bait.

Surprisingly, however, he merely shrugged. "Aw, well, worth the try."

Lily slumped back into her sofa, peering at him closely. Dang, he was good. A little too good. By appearing to not be interested was always a good way to get a girl to come crawling back to you. Potter was on a role.

"…Naw, Moony, I'm telling you. Putting itching powder in pepper opposed to salt would do more damage."

"Why would you want to though?" Remus was arguing.

"Moony, Moony, Moony, you may _be_ a Marauder, but you don't _think_ like a true troublemaker."

Lily watched Sirius and Remus's argument for a while. "What the heck are they on about?" she asked James.

"No idea," he answered amusedly, jumping off the couch and brushing his pants off. "I better go supervise before things get nasty." Lily watched as he approached his friends. "Oh, Evans, if you change your mind…"

She rolled her eyes, laughing quietly. "Goodbye, Potter."

There was silence as the Marauders departed, still arguing as they climbed the staircase leading to their dormitory. "They are a strange bunch…" Marlene commented, scribbling away at her homework again.

"You should have taken the opportunity though, Lily," Dorcas said casually, "a sunrise broom date would have been perfect."

"Speaking of brooms," Lily said, switching the topic swiftly. Their conversations were too much Marauder-based lately. "I still want one."

Dorcas seemed to be contemplating something, her fingernails tapping the small table between them distractedly. "Well, you could duplicate mine," she said after a while.

"If you did your Charms homework, Dorcas, then you would know that duplicating spells are illegal on things that are manufactured for sale," Marlene said, reading from her essay.

"Shoot…"

Now that she thought about it, it would be so much easier if she could just duplicate Dorcas's. She didn't fancy having to figure out which model was the best and safest. Not to mention cost would be a huge factor. Would her mother even agree to put money towards a flying household appliance? Petunia would probably try to talk her out of it…

"You don't have a catalogue or something, do you?" Lily asked.

Dorcas shook her head. "Try Potter."

Argh, that was not the answer she wanted. She could just picture his face now, smirking at the fact that little Evans actually thought she was a permanent member of the team and wanted her own broomstick. He couldn't really be mean to her face though, if he was trying to win the bet and all. Part of her even doubted whether or not he really was that cruel in general. And it would be a good excuse to butter up to him more and ensure a good spot for her dare.

Five minutes later, Lily found herself standing outside the boys' room, Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice giving her the thumbs up from the bottom of the staircase. Really, she was just going to ask him for a magazine…

Wait…should she knock first? Or just walk right on it? It was polite to knock, right? Or would it seem like she was uncomfortable—which she was—but she wasn't meant to be. Right?

No, knocking was good. What if they were…changing, or in the shower, or—Lily controlled a shudder—coming _out_ of the shower? Oh Godric, she did not need to see Sirius Black in the nude. Come to think of it, she didn't need to see any of them stark naked.

Okay, it was settled. She would knock, but she found she didn't need to. Just as her fist was about to pound on the heavy door, it swung open and James stood in the doorway. So much for worrying…

He grinned at her. "Want to go for that broom ride now?"

She chose just to ignore that comment with a roll of her eyes. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Call it intuition," he replied, swinging the door wider and allowing her entrance.

Lily brushed past him and into the Marauders' lair. "Intuition?" she replied doubtfully, smirking slightly. If James had any intuition at all, he'd know that the niceness with which Lily was treating him with was somehow off.

Sirius looked up from his bed where he was reading what looked like a piece of rather thick parchment. "Don't give him too much credit," he said, stuffing the brown piece of paper out of sight, "it will go to his head."

"Like it hasn't already," Remus said under his breath, not breaking his concentration on his homework in the slightest.

"Hey! I resent that," James said, chucking a sock at his friend's head.

During this mayhem—well, at least that's what she viewed the Marauders' interactions as—Lily took a chance to survey the guys' room. There had only been one time before this when she'd stepped into the bewared guys' dorm, and that time was way back in fifth year. Potter had stolen her Charms book in order to get her attention. Prat. It didn't seem like much had changed—the room, not Potter. Clothes were still strewn across the floor haphazardly and candy wrappers seemed to litter their bedspreads. Poor House Elves—they had to clean this dump every night.

She was pulled out of her laments for the poor creatures by the curious voice of James Potter. "So, what is it that I can do for you?"

"Who said I came for you?" Lily asked, smiling coyly and flopping down on a lone chair by a forgotten desk just beside the door.

Sirius barked a laugh. "Who else would you come for? Wormtail?"

Peter looked up, his round nose splattered with ink. "Say what?"

"My point exactly," Sirius said, waving his wand casually through the air as if that settled the matter.

They were slightly amusing, she had to give them that much. It was almost good just to hang out with them for that reason. If they weren't such trouble-making prats who had made her Prefect years ghastly—not to mention Potter's random outbursts of suspected love towards her since fourth year—she thought she would actually have befriended them. Some point or another, that is.

"Anyways," James said, drawing out the word while shooting an amused glance towards Sirius and a shrug to Lily, "what do you need, Evans?"

This was it. Maybe if she just said it really bluntly and quickly they wouldn't have time to respond. They'd probably think she was off her rocker, just like her friends had thought. Oh, bugger, why the heck did she care anyways? She didn't.

"I want to get a broom."

There. That was good. Part of her wanted Potter to be impressed. She really was serious about this Quidditch thing. Maybe she'd gain the team's trust more. And Potter's. She needed his trust—for the bet, not Quidditch. But she was quickly learning that the easiest way to James Potter's heart was through the Wizarding sport.

Sirius snorted into his hand. "Pardon?"

This was her time to shine. She was gonna shove her words right up Sirius-bloody-Black's buttocks. Her hands clasped her hips in an annoyed fashion. "A broom, Black. Is that too big of a word for your vocabulary?"

"Probably," Remus grinned, earning yet another pillow throw at his head.

"No," Sirius responded, crossing his arms across his chest casually, "but in my dictionary you and brooms just don't go together."

Incensed, Lily glared at the handsome boy. He was so dang annoying. Merlin! Somehow, and somewhere, within those few seconds Lily had jumped out of the chair and onto her feet. Sirius was grinning at her in a weird way—a way that Lily definitely didn't like. It was as if he knew something that she didn't. Remus was watching her apprehensively, his face half hidden behind his Transfiguration essay. Peter was still scribbling on his Potions homework.

"Maybe if you had seen the tryouts, Padfoot," James began, "you would know that Evans is bloody good."

That odd sensation erupted down her shoulder and back again as James placed his hand on her upper back. It was like he was trying to calm her down—and defend her. Wait! Defend? He was defending her? And touching her! What was he doing?

Oh yeah, the bet. She had momentarily forgotten about that. Strange, since the thought usually haunted her. Bloody Marauders.

Sirius picked at something on his fingernail. "Yeah, maybe," he said with a shrug. "Hopefully she does well under pressure."

Godric, Sirius was being annoying. Well, more annoying than usual. Now, what was his deal? And then it all clicked. Sirius wanted Potter to lose the bet. Sirius was trying to get Lily angry. Sirius wanted Lily to not want anything to do with the Marauders. Sirius wanted Lily to hate Potter. Hmm. Smart plan.

James hand tightened on her back. She really didn't know how she could tell, since he wasn't really holding onto her or anything, but he definitely was tensing. Maybe it was the not-so-subtle glares he was sending towards his best friend. Or maybe it was the way his jaw had clenched more tightly than normal.

"You know," Lily struck up, stepping closer to James just to mess with Sirius's head, "if I didn't know any better, I would think that you were rooting for me to fail."

Remus glanced up from his homework. For a second he glanced at Sirius, who was leaning against his bedpost, to Lily, who was closer to James than she normally would ever find herself to be.

A sound like a plunger that had just been sucked off a hard surface broke the split second silence. Peter's head came up from his homework, a blood-red candy stick in his hand; he had been sucking on it.

"Well," he began, his watery blue eyes wide with interest, "of course he doesn't want you to do well. Sirius and James—"

Chaos immediately erupted.

Sirius flicked his wand, and the spell resulted in a dirty sock being stuffed into Peter's open mouth, cutting off his words. The poor guy started sputtering and drooling all over his newly-completed homework. Remus was shaking his head in disbelief. James, meanwhile, was standing at complete ease.

Lily found that odd. If she wasn't very much mistaken, she was sure that Peter was just about to blow their bet they had made. The person who should be freaking out the most was the guy who still had his arm on her back and was simply watching the scene amusedly. His hand started to burn her. She could feel her temper rising. At the moment, she just wanted to get out of that dorm.

_Bloody pompous, over-confident, self-centered, git…_

"So, do you guys have a broom catalogue, or what?" she said brusquely, steering the conversation back towards the reason she'd come up here in the first place.

For a moment, it looked like all the boys had forgotten Lily's original purpose for gracing them with her presence. "Er—right. Yeah, I think I have one," James said, the first one to get his head back on straight.

She breathed a sigh of relief as his hand left her body, and Potter walked over towards his trunk. How could he just stand there so calmly when Peter had almost blown his cover? She just didn't get it. He was either way too confident for his own good, or he just didn't care about Lily's feelings. Honestly, suppose she _didn't_ know about the bet and suppose she really was falling for Potter—and then, Peter would have just basically blurted out that James was using her in order to gain five galleons.

Any girl would be crushed if that happened, but Potter had just _stood _there, like it didn't even matter!

"Here ya go, Evans," he said, handing her a surprisingly slim magazine entitled _Which Broomstick_.

She took it, glancing at Sirius, who was currently muttering to Peter. "Thanks," she said, turning to leave. To say she was slightly confused and angry didn't even match what she was feeling at the moment. She wanted to get Potter back, but at the same time she just didn't.

"Wait, Evans," James said from behind her, hurrying towards the door. "If you wanna try out my broom, you can."

The dare still in the back of her mind, Lily shifted her weight to her other foot. "What are you suggesting here, Potter?" she asked.

"I can take you out."

Whoa, she hadn't expected that one.

He must have known he started out too fast. The look on her face must have given it away. "I mean—er—I can take you out to the pitch, you know, so you can try out my broom. To see if you like it."

Lily quickly surveyed her options. She could take the catalogue and run without a backward glance. But what good would that do? Or she could accept his offer and agree to the Quidditch date—or whatever Potter wanted to call it. She looked at him. His hazel eyes were watching her, waiting for her answer. Her anger at the way he seemed not to care about her feelings—for Merlin's sake, he hadn't even seemed to care that Lily had almost found out that she was being used for a bet—had made her want to forget the dare completely.

But the dare was meant to get him back. That was the whole plan. Duh.

"Alright, Potter."

Sirius spluttered. "_What_?"

"I believe Lily just agreed to go on a rendezvous with Prongs," Remus answered. Lily could have sworn he was watching her suspiciously.

"And again—I say, _what?!_"

Lily smirked. Sirius thought he was losing. Potter thought he was winning. It was perfect. Her confidence rose. She had just made the right decision. She knew it.

Call it intuition.

"Name the time and date, Potter."

OOO

Lily sat with her head resting on her fist, watching as Professor Slughorn wrote the instructions for that day's potion on the board. For some reason, she was feeling pretty spaced out. Maybe it was because she'd only gotten about five hours of sleep last night. N.E.W.T year really was difficult; the horror stories had been true.

"And then, after stirring your solution clockwise three times, you're going to add a pinch of Hickle Twig—"

Hmm. Twigs? Brooms were made out of twigs. She wondered what her future broom was going to look like. She shook her head hastily, trying to focus on Slughorn. Her mind was being poisoned with too much exposure to Quidditch. This dare was definitely going to be the death of her.

"Miss Evans, you must know the answer. After all, you are one of my brightest students," Slughorn said, ignoring the raised hands of Remus Lupin, Rachel Smartley, and Kevin Michaels. Darn it; why'd her professor have to like her so much?

Lily smiled sheepishly, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks. "Sorry, Professor, must have missed the question."

Whew, she really had zoned out.

"Don't worry, Lily," Slughorn beamed and turned to Remus. "What about you, Robert? Know the answer?"

Perhaps she should start paying attention.

But that feat deemed almost impossible as soon as she tried to look at the instructions on the board.

Messy black hair was suddenly blocking her view of the blackboard. Lily felt her focus slip, again. Oh, Merlin, today was Thursday. That meant tomorrow was Friday. That meant that she was twenty-four hours away from her little Quidditch rendezvous—as Sirius was calling it—with Potter. Hopefully he didn't think it was a date. What if he tried to make a move on her? She definitely wasn't ready for that! Phase three hadn't even started yet!

Her friends, of course, had been thrilled with the way Lily's trip to the boys' dormitory had played out. Dorcas was over the moon, since she and Marlene had been the ones who had wanted a—and she quoted—'romantic broom ride' to happen in the first place. However, Lily was strictly against the whole romantic part, and it definitely wasn't going to happen during the sunrise, or sunset for that matter.

But despite that, Lily found herself sort of—kind of—an eensy-teensy bit—looking forward to it. This would either make the dare or break it. This was the first official outing since Potter and Sirius had made the bet, and since Lily's friends had dared her. If it went well, the dare would move forward. She would be nice, she would be fun, she may even flirt with him a bit, but if he tried to get too touchy-feely with her…that's where it would turn ugly. And if their 'rendezvous' went bad—well, Lily hoped it wouldn't.

She wanted to beat James Potter down. She was determined to make the date thing go well.

The bell rang, pulling her from her jumbled up thoughts. She realized she had been watching the back of Potter's head for the last fifteen minutes. Yikes, she needed to save her Potter-energy for tomorrow.

"So, Lily," Marlene said, pulling Lily by the elbow out of the classroom, "we came up with Phase three."

Dorcas grinned, nodding. "Your little Quidditch date with Potter is the best setting for this to happen. It'll really mess with his head."

Lily couldn't help but grin excitedly. "The kind of messing with his head where he'll think I'm actually starting to like him?"

"That's the plan," said Alice.

James was a little bit ahead of them, strolling down the corridors in the middle of his three friends. Lily nodded to herself. Her head was in the game now. It was completely in the game.

"What do I have to do?" she asked.

And then Marlene said the three words that sounded extremely alien to Lily's ears. It was like she was from a different country and didn't speak Marlene's language. That's how foreign her friend's next statement sounded.

"Call him James."

* * *

_Phew, that was a long one. I'm quite excited for the next chapter...I think it should be a good one. Bwahaha. Alright, I'm done being random for today. I'm going to bed. 'Night everyone!_

_Next chapter: Lily and James's Quidditch rendezvous AND phase three...Remus comes into it as well. Dun dun dunnn. _

_Thanks for reading! Hopefully you enjoyed it and hopefully I gave you something to do while you wait impatiently for Deathly Hallows to come out! Only a month to go! It would be absolutely spiffy (haha, don't you just love that word?) if you reviewed!_

_Until next time..._

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Harry Potter. I hope that's pretty obvious by now. lol_

**A/N:** _A very gratefuly thanks to all of you who reviewed! Sarcasticrules, pigs can fly, Horsebookworm -Prongs's Girl-, -Jeisa-, Isolde Eris, wonky, laxrules18, Cristipotter, Brianna Katelyn Evans, Xx-BlueFox-xX, hermione-G-wanna-be, the ramen ninja, hermy permy, SweetSouthernGal, messyblackhair66, mauraudersminuspeterarehot, Mrs Claire Potter, MarisLily, and Acelinn. Thanks a bijillion times three! Also, thank you to everyone who added me to their story alerts and such! It means a lot!_

_Sorry for the wait. Since it's summer, you'd think that I'd have more time to write and update...surprisingly, that's not the case. I'll try to do better though._

_Before we get back into the story, a reviewer thought it'd be a good idea if I reminded you all of Sirius and James's bet. Well, from what Lily overheard, the bet is that James can't get Lily to go out with him. If James loses, he has to pay Sirius five galleons, and vice versa. _

_A few last thoughts. I thought Order of the Phoenix (the movie) was very good! The beginning I didn't really like, but after it got going I really enjoyed it. Probably my favorite so far. Also, THREE MORE DAYS UNTIL DEATHLY HALLOWS! I CAN NOT wait. Like seriously. I think I might just do my happy dance right now..._

* * *

**Chapter 10: Phase Three: What Did You Just Call Me?**

Bloody Sirius Black needed to die.

Thanks to him, Lily had to endure countless whisperings from her classmates the entire school day Friday—"Did you hear? Potter fed Evans some love potion and they have a date tonight". Conversations such as that one followed Lily around everywhere she went: in the library, at lunch, in Charms, and even in the loo for crying out loud! How her wand just itched to cross paths with a certain Black family child, and it wasn't Regulus.

Of course, she didn't really have any proof that it _had_ been Sirius who had spread the word that Lily Evans had actually agreed to an outing with James Potter. In fact, the only proof she did have was something that she wasn't supposed to have found out at all—the bet. But she didn't need proof. Sirius had wanted to scare Lily out of this relationship—or whatever it was these days—with Potter. That's why he'd told everyone under the sun about Friday's rendezvous. He had hoped to scare her off.

Stupid Black.

"Are you ready?" Marlene asked, finishing off Lily's French braid.

"Can I kill Sirius first?" she asked, grinning despite herself.

"Later—perhaps," Dorcas answered, throwing a pair of shoes at Lily who caught them clumsily. "But now, you're supposed to be—"

"—with Potte—" her friends gave her a pointed look—"_James_. I'm supposed to be with James," Lily finished, nodding.

Alice smiled. "You're getting better at it every time."

In preparation for the third phase of her dare, her friends had forced Lily to begin calling Potter by his first name even when he wasn't around. It hadn't been as teeth wrenching as she thought it would have been, but she had yet to try it while in Potter's presence. She had made it this far though, hadn't she? She didn't doubt her skills…much.

"Alright," Lily said, taking one last look in the mirror, "wish me luck."

"You don't need luck," Marlene said, pushing her friend out the door, "I hope," she mumbled, finishing her sentence as the door closed behind Lily.

OOO

As he came into view, Lily debated whether or not she should start off with phase three right off the bat. It would kind of ruin it though. She had to put it into effect at the best time, not just throw it out there first thing. Doing that would be like throwing a weapon to an enemy before the battle even begun.

"Hey."

"Hey, Evans," James responded.

Lily eyed him. He was dressed….smartly. And it looked like he had even attempted to tame his wild hair. A faint scent of cologne was drifting around him as well—it did smell rather nice actually. Merlin, he did think of this as a date, didn't he? Well, she supposed that was better for her. He already thought she was falling for him if he counted this as a first date.

But one false move on her…She had to keep the boundaries drawn.

"So…" Lily began, wanting to break the silence. It was getting kind of awkward, much like a first date would be. _No! _No. This was _not_, under any circumstances, a date. Barriers up!

"Are you ready for this?" he asked suddenly, pulling Lily out of her crazed thoughts with a wide smile on his face.

Why was he smiling like that? What was he so excited about? Oh Merlin, he was going to try to kiss her…Godric, what could she do? Oh no, what if he was going to kidnap her, throw her on his broom, and make her elope with him. Okay, now she was just being delirious. Maybe she was overanalyzing things.

"Ready for what, exactly?" she asked apprehensively, biting her lip and readying herself just incase he _did_ try something.

"I thought you wanted to try out my broom?" he answered, slightly confused.

"Oh, yeah, right," she laughed to herself. Why was she acting so weirdly? She needed to get her head back on straight. This was _not_ a date—well, it wasn't a _real_ date. There was no need to be so apprehensive.

"So, I figured you're kind of used to going slow—"

"Excuse me?" Lily said, her hands on her hips as she jumped back into the conversation. It should have been obvious he was going to insult her sooner or later. Polite conversations just never lasted for more than two minutes between the two of them.

James chuckled. "I meant you're used to the school brooms which, despite what Madame Hooch says, are old and not capable of flying like they used to."

Feeling slightly stupid, Lily nodded and tried to smile. _Calm down_. She inhaled deeply. "You make it sound like yours is the fastest broom there is."

Nodding, James raised his wand arm. "Well, it kind of is." He shrugged. "_Accio broomstick_!"

Merlin, he was arrogant. Perfect Potter had the perfect broom for the perfect Wizarding sport. She crossed her arms out of annoyance, making it seem like she was simply cold, as a whooshing sound came from near the Quidditch changing rooms. A few seconds later, a dark-stained broomstick halted in front of James, at just the perfect height for him to climb onto.

"This," he said, patting the handle of his broom as if petting a dog, "is my broomstick—the Starshooter."

Lily snorted. "You make it sound like it's your kid, or something," she joked finally feeling more at ease with this situation. Oddly enough, Potter's jokes were soothing her nerves.

"Don't insult it!"

Her mouth twitched at his reaction, but she tried to hold in her laughter to pacify him. "Fine, sorry. So, this is your pride and glory?"

"In a matter of speaking, yes," he said, taking the broom in his hand and walking towards Lily. It was the first time since her arrival that he'd moved closer towards her. Her heart flipped rather uncomfortably. "Now, this is quite possibly the best model out to buy these days," James explained, holding it out to Lily so she could admire the stick.

Honestly, Lily did find the broom extremely sleek-looking. It's rich, deep oak was perfectly smooth and not one single twig was out of place. On the side, in silver letters, were the words 'Starshooter.' It was a very handsome broomstick. "It's nice," she commented, grinning at him.

He humphed. "Just nice? It's bloody amazing!"

"Fine, it's 'bloody amazing' then."

She watched him as he nodded, apparently satisfied with her response. "The English National team just recently put an order in for these babies. Like I said, they're the best brooms around."

"Sound expensive."

James shrugged, but Lily noticed the tips of his ears were turning a faint shade of red. "Well—I mean…yeah," he finished lamely. "But it's not a totally unreasonable price," he added quickly.

Aw, was Potter actually embarrassed that his family could afford to buy him such an expensive broom? That was cute. And totally un-Potterish. He must have taken acting lessons sometime in his past life…

"Now," James began again, "here."

He placed the Starshooter in her hands.

Confused, Lily looked at him. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

A smirk flickered across his lips. His earlier embarrassment was gone. Typical. Perhaps she had just imagined that blush… "Come on, Evans. You're on the Quidditch team now; you have to at least _pretend_ you know what to do with a broomstick."

Oh, she was supposed to ride it. Duh. She fingered the smooth surface of the wood, and it seemed to vibrate underneath her touch as if it were excited for the flight. While she observed the broom, she couldn't help but think about the dare. _Pretend you know what to do with a broomstick._ Yeah, she had to _pretend_ to be good at Quidditch—although maybe she really was good, who knew?—and _pretend_ to be interested in Potter. Phase three still needed to commence and there hadn't been very much…flirtatious tension between them yet. She had to build up to the phase otherwise it wouldn't have the desired affect she was wanting to go for.

She glanced at James. He was looking at something over her shoulder, his jaw clamped tightly as if he was doing something against his better judgment. It was then that she realized neither one of them wanted to be there with the other. He was there to try to win her over for the bet, and she was there to try to help him win only to crush him in the end.

Wow, talk about a confusing love triangle-shaped object thing.

It was time to move things along a bit, just to mess with him. "So, how fast did you say this goes, exactly?" she asked, feigning a hint of nervousness.

He immediately shot his attention to her. "Naught to fifty in fifteen seconds," he said proudly.

"That's pretty fast then?" she asked, taking half a step to him.

"Pretty fast, yeah."

"Hmm…"

He continued to look at her blankly, not totally comprehending what in the world she was playing at. Men, they never catch on to anything. It was time to drop all pretense and subtleness. She held in her sigh.

"I dunno if I can handle it."

Part of her could not believe she was showing weakness in front of James Potter, even if she was just acting it. Ever since fifth year they had always been—whether the other one acknowledged it or not—academic rivals. One week Lily would be the top student, and the next James would be up there. That was just how they were. And now, here she was, practically admitting to Potter her fears—no matter how false they may be.

Apparently, Potter couldn't believe her sudden openness with her emotions either. He watched her quietly for a while, his eyes squinted behind his round glasses as if he had never been able to see her properly. She stared back at him, making sure to keep her nervous smile from turning into a deep scowl.

"You don't think you can…." James began, not knowing quite what to do or say. Man, and she thought Potter was the big ladies man; he was clueless. Or maybe he just wasn't used to this "new Lily".

"Well," she said, glancing at the broom, "like you said, I'm used to going slow, and well…Perhaps you should, well, you know." She deserved an acting award, if she did say so herself—which she did.

"I know?"

"Yes." She refused to ask him for his help…again. Hopefully he would catch on; hopefully being the key word.

"I do?" he asked, scratching his head and unintentionally messing up his recently tamed hair.

"You should," she snapped back at him, her hands on her hips. Well, so much for that future acting award.

Dang, how did their conversations always wind up with her angry and raising her voice? This had been her idea in the first place, and now she wanted nothing to do with it. Maybe if he wasn't so annoying and slow she wouldn't get so frustrated with him! He was so—so—she couldn't even come up with a good enough word to describe him.

"Er…" James looked from her, to his broom in her hands, to her again. As if a light bulb had just gone off in his head, James's eyes widened significantly, his eyebrows disappearing into his mass of black hair.

"_Oh_," he said deeply. Blast that smirk. "You want my help."

What had she just gotten herself into? "Well, I wouldn't call it help, exactly," she mumbled.

"What would you call it?" he asked mockingly.

She clenched her jaw, determined to not let him get the best of her. "Assistance."

With a roll of his eyes, James reached out and pried his broomstick from her hands. "Right, well, allow me to _assist_ you then."

He mounted the broom and scooted up further from where he would normally sit. Once he adjusted himself, he turned back to look at Lily. Her heart began pounding unpleasantly and even though this is the kind of thing she had been going for, she suddenly wished she could run into the Forbidden Forest and never be seen again.

"We'll fly together first just so you can get the hang of it, okay?"

What was she doing? A very numb part of her mind suddenly felt herself nodding. She was losing control of her body; her feet began guiding her up to the side of the broomstick. Oh Godric, what was happening? It felt like—she mentally gasped; Potter had put her under the Imperius Curse.

_Get a hold of yourself; even Potter wouldn't do something as illegal as that._

She straddled his broom behind him and sat down roughly. Her hands remained by her side. She could _not_ believe this had been her idea in the first place. There was just no way…

"You might want to hold on."

This statement pulled Lily straight out of daze-land and snapped her right back into reality. "_What_?"

He craned his neck to look at her, a pointed look on his face. "You don't want to fall off, do you?"

No. She most certainly did not. She had watched Potter fly billions of times and she knew he liked to perform spins and tricks while up in the air. _Psh. What a show off. _

But, she'd rather not spend her night in the Hospital Wing from a stupid decision to ride a broomstick handless. Back when she had been ten years old she had attempted to ride her brand new bicycle without hands—she still had a scar on her knee. There was no way she wanted an accident like that to happen again.

As much as she knew she'd hate herself for doing this, she knew she must touch him. For the dare. All of this was for the dare. She was being held under a Truth or Dare contract. This was, by no means, her own doing.

Attentively, she touched the side of his waist with both hands, just barely placing them on his black robes like he was the plague and she wanted to avoid him at all costs. She knew he was chuckling before she heard it; she could feel his stomach moving with his contained laughter. How odd…and extremely unnerving.

"I won't bite, you know."

She gritted her teeth, but held him tighter nonetheless. _Be comfortable, be comfortable…don't blow it! _"Somehow, I'm not so sure."

And without giving her even a tiny clue of what they were about to do, he kicked off from the ground—very hard she might add—and they shot up into the air. The abruptness of what had just happened caused Lily's heart to shoot up into her throat. Lily jumped at the sudden motion and instantly clung to James tighter, hugging him around the waist and burying her head into the back of his robes.

"Evans, please tell me my new Beater isn't cowering back there."

His joking voice fought to be heard over the howling wind as James maneuvered his broomstick through the air with ease—with extremely fast ease.

"I wouldn't have to tell you anything if you had warned me before taking off like that," Lily fought back, releasing her hold on him slightly and taking her face away from his robes. Truth be told, she was still slightly shaky, and Potter's robes had been so warm…

Wait. Hold up. Scratch that. They had only been warm because it was so cold outside a few hundred feet up into the air. Yeah. That was it.

"Rule number one," James yelled over the wind, "there are always surprises in Quidditch and the players, especially you as the Beater, always have to be ready to face them."

Since when had this turned into a Quidditch lesson? It was rather annoying. Had he lured her out here just to make sure she'd be a good Quidditch player so they would win the Quidditch cup?

"I wasn't aware our date was actually a Quidditch practice, Potter," Lily remarked.

"Oh, so this _is _a date."

"Er—what?" Lily said, not catching her fatal mistake.

"Remus just said it was a "rendezvous". You know? A get together, but Peter—"

Merlin…she hadn't? Had she? Oh dear…this could not be good. She had just broken down the slim barrier that had been between them. Now, this little outing was officially going to be known as James Potter and Lily Evans's first date. Why couldn't she ever just keep her big mouth nicely shut? Why? Why? _Why?_

But maybe—just maybe—this was good for her. Should she play this off? If she played along, the good part would be that Potter would most definitely think that she was finally starting to see him as an actual human male being; the bad part would be that Potter would think that she had started seeing him as an actual _perspective_ male. In what kind of sick situation was the upside ever the same thing as the downside? Well, apparently in this situation.

"…however, Sirius said you had probably been blackmailed, but—"

"—James!"

Poof! Just like that everything seemed to slow down. It was like the world had suddenly been plunged into slow motion. The wind stopped blowing into her face and the trees even stopped whipping by them. All the noises that broke through the night slowly died down until all she could hear was the rustle of the trees and her quick breathing. Everything had just…stopped. It took Lily a few seconds to realize that all of that was happening because James had actually pulled the broom to a standstill.

They hovered in midair for a while. "What did you just call me?" James asked, still facing forward. It was probably a good thing he'd stopped flying, because he probably would have flown them straight into the Whomping Willow out of pure shock.

Forcing her heart rate to return to normal, Lily grinned widely, hidden behind his back. She hadn't exactly planned to do phase three like that, but Quidditch _was_ always full of surprises; Potter was actually an okay teacher.

"James," she said again, moving her hands slightly from around his waist to reposition them, unusually pleased with herself, "if you don't shut up, I think I might have to hex you, and who wants our first date to end up with you in the Hospital Wing?"

She could just imagine the smile on his face—actually she pictured it more of a smirk; his lips curling upwards, his eyes shining with triumph. She knew that he must want to pump his fist up in the air in celebration at finally getting things to where he wanted them to be for the bet, because that's exactly what she herself wanted to do.

Phase three had worked.

"No, I definitely would rather stay out here with you than end up in the hospital wing, _Lily._"

She blinked, momentarily stunned. "Since when is it Lily?"

"Since when is it James?" he quipped back, finally turning around to face her.

Aw. Good point. Very good point indeed.

"Touché."

With one last grin, James turned back around to face forward and slowly guided the broom back towards the ground. They landed with a light thump and Lily quickly untangled herself from James and stumbled off the back of his broomstick. James hopped off with perfect balance and ease.

"Well," Lily began, brushing her pair of jeans off, "thanks, _James_."

She turned to walk away, not wanting to give him any change to make a move on her. She figured that since she just took the leap that pushed the two of them into a more complicated and intimate relationship, James would want to move things further along. Faster is always better, was his motto. For Lily, kissing, and even hugging, was strictly off limits. And besides, she had accomplished her mission, and leaving him there would be irresistibly mysterious.

"Lily! Wait," he called, grabbing her by her arm and slowing her to a halt, affectively ruining her sexy getaway.

Turning, she looked into his face and took a quick step back, noticing the small distance between them. "James," she made sure to use his first name, "really, I'm quite hungry and—"

"How'd you like the broom?"

Startled, Lily blinked…twice. In rapid succession. This was not what she had expected would come out of his mouth. "Er—excuse me?"

"My broom—did you like it?"

Lily planted her feet firmly in the ground and squinted at him. What in the world…? "Yeah, I suppose…" Where was this leading to?

"Good, because my Beaters need good brooms." He winked at her and released her arm from his soft grip.

Slightly confused—actually, make that _extremely_ confused—Lily nodded dumbly. "Right…" she shifted her weight from one foot to the next, "well, goodnight, James."

She was halfway towards the castle when James called out to her. "I like your name, by the way. Lily."

For a split second she wanted to shout at him for his good acting skills; she wanted to tell him to drop the act and just give it up because she was totally on to him. If any boy was genuinely like this to her, she would have fallen head over heals for the bloke ages ago. It was driving her up the wall.

She had to admit though…calling him James was a nice improvement, and it really hadn't been that hard of a transition.

OOO

Lily strolled down the corridors, approaching the library with the goal in mind to finish her Transfiguration assignment. It was early in the morning, the day after Lily's date—rendezvous—get together—whatever people these days wanted to call it, with Potter. No, with James. Since it was so early, no one had approached her and interrogated her about it, with the exception of her friends that is.

"Hey, Lily."

Correction. With the exception of her friends…and now Remus Lupin.

"'Morning, Remus," she greeted as he fell into step beside her. "What are you doing up so early?"

He shrugged. "I tend to get up this early; I'm a morning person."

"Aw."

There was a brief silence, but Lily knew that Remus—one of James's best friends—would soon break it. The reason he had chosen to catch up with her was about to be brought out into the light.

And sure enough, the sandy-haired boy shot a look at her and opened his mouth. "So, your…rendezvous, shall we call it, with James went well?"

Lily sighed. She knew this would be brought up sooner or later. "He's really not that bad," she said cryptically, picking up her pace to try to shake him off.

"Listen, Lily…"

He slowed to a halt and Lily knew she had no choice but to abide to him and slow down as well. Well, she could have always sprinted off to the library and leave him standing there like an idiot, because that wouldn't have been obvious at all. Cough, sarcasm, cough.

"I know what you're going to say," she sighed, cutting him off.

"Do you?"

"That I'm only giving him the time of day because I have some mysterious gain for doing it," Lily continued, readjusting her bag casually, attempting to appear cool.

Remus peered at her closely as if he were trying to see straight through her. "You promised you'd back off."

At the moment she remembered their conversation that day after potions. He thought she was trying to find out what the Marauders had to do with Remus's full moon transformations. She had almost forgotten about that.

"I haven't asked James about why he gallivants off with you while you're in your…state," she said simply.

Remus rubbed the temples of his forehead soothingly with the tips of his index finger, his eyes closed for a moment. Then his eyelids shot open and he stared at her with an intensity that he'd never looked at her with before.

"He really likes you, and if I find out you're using him…"

James really liked her? That meant only one thing; that Remus must have been in on the bet as well and had bet against Sirius. Remus was hoping that James would get the girl. Jeez, where did Peter stand in all of this? Was she going to have one Marauder pretending to date her, two egging her on, and one trying to shake her off by the end of this?

"It's my duty as Head Girl to keep students out of danger," she kept her voice even, staring at him, "but I am not using James to find out your secrets."

"I really hope so."

"I'm not _that_ low."

_But you four are_, Lily thought as she watched Remus walk away a few moments later after a few polite sentences. _You four are the ones all ganging up against me for a few galleons_. And though it could be argued that Lily was just as low as she claimed not to be, she knew that she was simply sinking to the Marauders' level. Sometimes you had to fight fire with fire in order play dirty.

* * *

_Well, I'm officially tired as it's midnight here in sunny California...well, actually it was a bit rainy today. Which is totally odd weather for us. Meh, anyways, I'm off to bed._

_I know this chapter may have been a let down for some of you who were hoping for more romantic Lily and James action, but Lily has to take it slow...otherwise it just wouldn't be believable and James would be just a little bit freaked out--though a bit overjoyed as well. lol_

_So, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! And, if I don't update before Deathly Hallows comes out, ENJOY READING! I know I'll be enjoying myself...! Oh, and it'd be great if you could review! Have a great week!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** _Alas, Harry Potter isn't mine, no matter how many times I have dreams where I do own all of J.K. Rowling's ideas._

**A/N:** _Thanks to: Xxpiratexx, Jedi Knight Revan, Slina, Cristipotter, SweetSouthernGal, Hanoo, crackcakewhore, fantasyatheart, Ace-reporter, lilbit18, CaramelBoost, Alanna n' Jon 4ever, hermione-G-wanna-be, nicky, laxrules18, and Mrs Claire Potter. I really enjoy reading your reviews! And thanks again to everyone who added me to their alerts! You all rock!_

_Well, Deathly Hallows is out, and now, Harry Potter is officially over. You know, that's kind of depressing! But, I totally loved the book! I won't say anything else about it incase some of you haven't finished it yet, but if you want to talk about it feel free to send me a message or something. _

_On that note, this chapter was inspired by Deathly Hallows. This chapter isn't as funny or light hearted as the last ones have been. I know you're all going to have questions after you read this chapter, but trust me, most of them will be answered in the next chapter. I was going to answer them in this one, but I have to go to bed now because I'm leaving tomorrow morning for vacation and won't be back for twenty days. So, I wanted to post something before I left. Therefore, since this chapter was inspired by Deathly Hallows, anyone who hasn't finished the book...DON'T READ THIS CHAPTER! It contains SPOILERS! _

* * *

**Chapter 11: The Mark of Severus**

The days following the legendary date quickly evolved into weeks as the Christmas Holidays began approaching fast. Apart from the lively decorations that had taken over the castle—the enormous Christmas trees (courtesy of Hagrid, the Gamekeeper) and Peeves, who swooped down upon unsuspecting students dangling mistletoe under their noses—nothing much had changed in Lily's life.

Sirius, still intent upon dissolving the surprising relationship blooming between his best mate and Lily Evans, had taken it as his personal goal to follow Lily around school calling out snide comments to her. Whenever he overheard her talking to James, and actually calling the latter by his first given name, Sirius would slide in something like, "What's the matter, Evans? Been Confunded lately?" These statements were always usually followed up by how Lily would be the one to drag down Gryffindor's chances at the Quidditch Cup. Of course, this didn't defer Lily from her own goal of winning her dare and thus causing James to lose his bet. On the contrary, it only strengthened her resolve even further.

Even worse than Sirius was surprisingly Remus, whom she always had gotten on relatively well with. Never allowing Lily a chance to be alone with James, Remus followed the two wherever they went. Even after Lily had tried throwing Remus off their tracks one Saturday afternoon by pulling James behind a hidden tapestry near the girl's toilet, Remus still showed up quite out of breath, stuffing a piece of parchment into the pockets of his robes. How was she possibly supposed to get James to ask her out and complete her dare—when he hadn't done it in months—if Remus cropped up all over the place, keen to catch Lily in the act of trying to pry information out of his friend? Due to all of these irritating factors combined, Lily's favorite Marauder at the present time was, unnervingly surprising, James Potter…well, and Peter, but as the rat-faced boy chose to lag around behind Sirius most of the time, he didn't count.

If Lily knew that James wasn't acting nicely just so he could win five galleons—which wasn't that much money anyways, she would like to point out—Lily would actually have found James Potter's company entertaining and fun. Their playful banter always caused Lily to laugh and, on the rare occasion when Remus wasn't around and she was simply sitting beside James on the Gryffindor sofa, his presence oddly relaxed her and she usually never thought of the buttload of homework that lay at her feet. When Lily admitted this to her friends, Dorcas instantly erupted into a round of giggles while Marlene and Alice were determined to remind their redheaded friend that James Potter was simply acting and that she shouldn't get so caught up in the moment. Psh, like she would anyways.

"Ready, Lily?"

Lily looked up from her table in the library where her half finished Transfiguration homework was sprawled out across the glossy surface, and smiled upon seeing the face of a bespectacled young man.

"Yeah," she said, stuffing her essay and ink into her bag hastily, "just hold on a moment, James."

James nodded. "Is it just me, or does it feel oddly empty without Remus breathing down our back?" he asked, immediately looking behind him and staring suspiciously at a spot a few feet along a bookshelf.

Laughing, Lily stood up, throwing her bag across her shoulder. "Well, I suppose it'd be a bit odd if he followed us around during patrol," she added, falling into step beside James as they exited the library.

"Agreed," said James, "I'd have to give the little bugger detention." Nevertheless, Lily could have sworn she saw James glance furtively around them.

They set off together up towards the seventh floor corridor where the Gryffindor common room was located, so Lily could drop off her bag. Thankfully, neither Sirius nor Remus were on the other side of the portrait hole and Lily effectively stowed her school bag in her dorm without so much as even a suspicious glance from one of the "bad Marauders".

"Where've we got tonight?" James asked, once she reappeared at the bottom of the girls' staircase.

"Well, the Gryffindor Prefects have the seventh floor. We're scheduled for the dungeons."

James pulled a face that was something between disgust and…no, his face pretty much only resembled disgust. "Why would anyone go down there at night? It's haunted by the lot of Slytherins, gits."

His attempt at a light-hearted joke didn't quite agree with Lily and she merely gave a short bout of laughter and then stopped abruptly. There wasn't really anything bad about Slytherins—granted, there were those select few who practiced quite gruesome (sometimes to the point of _evil_) acts. It was small things like this that James would say, little glimpses of his past ignorance and arrogance, that would cause Lily to get angry with him and remind her that his new-found attitude was, indeed, an act.

After a few silent seconds, a conversation—initiated by James—struck up. He talked about his family (generations of Purebloods, though, as James constantly reminded her, his parents definitely didn't care for their blood status). She listened quietly, only half focusing on what he was saying because part of her mind was still lingering on what James had said about the Slytherins.

"…and then, Sirius just popped up in my front garden one night—told us something about how he'd gotten fed up with his family and that his parents had disowned him…"

Suddenly, Lily slowed to halt, straining her ears to hear past James's words. Maybe she'd only just imagined the familiar voice that was coming from behind a closed door because she'd been thinking about Slytherins…yeah, that had to be it.

"…so, naturally, my mum and dad took Sirius in; treated him like the second son that they always wanted—Lily? Are you alright?" James asked, only just noticing that Lily had stopped and was no longer at his side.

Lily looked up at him. No, she definitely wasn't imagining those voices. There were more now and curiosity and fear overwhelmed her. "Yeah…you keep going, James," she said, motioning him with her hand as if shooing him away. "I'll back track; I think I heard something."

She didn't know why she wanted to do this alone. Well, honestly, she did know why she must do this on her own. James looked at her closely. "Are you sure you don't want me to—"

Out of sheer desperation, Lily said, "Might as well get the job down quicker; that way we can have some…alone time in the common room."

As she had hoped, James grinned. "Alright, I'll meet you back here when I get to the end of the hall."

Nodding distractedly, she watched as James continued on down the corridor. When the darkness had enveloped his tall form and all she could make out was a tiny bulb of light issuing from his wand, Lily quickly spun around and half-walked, half-ran back towards the way she had came from. A few feet down, the hallway steered off sharply to the left, and hearing the voices again, Lily turned and stopped abruptly outside a shabby door that she thought led into the students' Potions supply cabinet.

"…did you feel it, though?" came a voice that Lily knew belonged to a seventh year Slytherin known as Mulciber.

"'Course I did," responded a deep voice, and as Lily heard it goosebumps erupted on the back of her neck. It was Avery.

"Are we going to answer it?"

There was a slight pause. The voice that answered the elusive question caused Lily's veins to pulse angrily, remorsefully. She knew that voice, and she knew it well at that. "No," came the oily voice of Severus Snape.

Lily approached silently towards the door. She wanted to interrupt their little meeting, but at the same time she didn't want to. Quite frankly, she didn't really know what to do. "It's our duty," Mulciber spoke and Lily could hear his drawling voice ringing with pride.

"The Dark Lord knows we're still in school," Snape said, and Lily's worst fears were immediately confirmed, "He knows we can't go to him with Dumbledore heading the school."

There was a murmur of agreement from the other two and Lily crept closer. Because of the lack of light, she didn't see the small puddle of water—or whatever substance it may have been—and she slipped. Unable to help it, she squealed and caught herself against the wall. Immediately she clapped her hand to her own mouth, looking horrified with herself.

"What was that?" Avery asked, and Lily heard the unmistakable sound of a Wizard pulling its wand from their robes.

What could she do? She knew she should move, get out of there, but her feet seemed to be planted to the floor. Perhaps a spell held here there? With a mute gasp, Lily recognized the spell work; it was with out a doubt Snape's. He must have cast it with the consent from the others so that incase they were overheard they could hold the eavesdropper there until they could Oblivate the unfortunate person. Oh Merlin, what could she do? There was no doubt that Avery and Mulciber were sadists, but Severus…surely he wouldn't hurt her, would he?

"Probably just a sleazy House Elf," Snape said, "let's go."

And Lily watched, horrified, as the door swung open. A familiar figure appeared. It swished its wand and Lily screwed her eyes shut, ready to have her memories wiped from her. But then someone had grabbed her gently around the arm and was pulling her quickly around another corner. Her savior pushed her against the wall and held her there.

"Lily, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Still slightly dazed from the fortunate turn of events, Lily tried to clear her head, but there was no mistaking that voice. "Severus—how did you—what?"

"You had patrol duty tonight down here, and I knew only you would be stupid enough to listen outside doors," Snape replied, shaking her slightly.

She didn't bother asking how he'd known she had patrol duty. It wasn't really important at the moment. "What? So now only _Mudbloods_," she put a cold emphasis on the word, "are stupid enough to eavesdrop?"

Her eyes slowly began adjusting to the dark and she could hear Snape's two other buddies walking further down the hall, towards the Slytherin common room. Now that she could see, she stared into her ex-friend's face. It was much gaunter and paler than she had last seen it.

His icy eyes narrowed and he made a motion as if he was going to hex her. "You're going to get yourself into trouble," he hissed, tightening his grip on her arm.

"Oh, really?" she questioned sarcastically, glaring, "because from what I just heard, it's you who's going to be in trouble."

"You shouldn't have heard that at all."

"Good thing I did though, because now I know that you're just like _them_. Do your Pureblood pals know you're only a Half-Blood, Sev?"

His grip was so tight now that his knuckles were turning white from the strain of holding her. Lily fingered her wand with her hand securely. "What about your Pureblood _boyfriend_? When's your wedding with Saint-like Potter?" his tone held nothing more than the deepest loathing and rage built up inside of Lily's chest like never before.

"Don't you dare—how could you?—James is more than you'll ever be!" she said lowly.

That seemed to hit him. With a look of disgust, he let go of her arms and threw her from him. "It's just like Muggle-born lover Potter to have a Mudblood."

With a swish of his robes, Snape stalked off and around the corner. Lily stood there, quite shaken, and furiously swiped at the tears building up behind her eyes. She had expected this—had known this—since fifth year, but every time that she had an encounter with him it still came as a shock. In the deepest way she wanted to save her old best friend, but in reality she knew it was too late.

"Lily?"

Drying her eyes quickly on her sleeve, Lily drew a shaky breath and stepped out of the shadows. "I'm here," she answered as James came strolling towards her. There was small cut above his eyebrow. "What happened?"

James fingered his bleeding cut. "Oh, that? Nothing, just Snape. Seemed down right peeved, did you give him detention or something?"

Lily pulled out her wand and waved it through the air; the cut immediately vanished, leaving the spot above James's left eyebrow slightly redder than usual but healed. "Something like that," she replied vaguely.

There was something in the way that he was peering at her that made Lily feel like James knew something more had happened. And sure enough, James grabbed her hand to keep her from turning away. "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Lily…"

"Just drop it, okay?"

James dropped her hand and shrugged, not pursuing the subject any further. He followed Lily's lead and walked along slightly behind her, as if he were frightened of angering her further. The silence pressed in on them for a few moments, neither of them talking because neither knew what to say.

"He's a Slytherin git, Lily. Don't let anything he said get to you," James said quietly, finally breaking the silence. "It's hard remembering someone like him. It's simple to forget."

And, not knowing why that angered her so much, Lily whipped around so suddenly that James nearly knocked into her. Whatever this was, it most definitely was _not_ simple and she knew that she would never be able to forget that her once best friend probably now had the Dark Mark tattooed upon his arm.

"Why do you say stuff like that?" she cried, "Why do you hate him so much?"

His eyes widened at her outburst. She was breathing heavily. Rage and anxiousness were mixing together inside of her and the scene she'd just witnessed—had played a part in—was making her shake with the jumble of emotions. Lily didn't expect James to answer her question, so when he began to speak it came as an incredible shock.

"He followed you around too much," James muttered.

Lily stared into his hazel eyes. "_What_?"

"A Gryffindor and Slytherin relationship? It was just…odd," he trailed off; he was talking slower than usual, as if he was unsure of whether he should be telling her this or not. "After he stopped hanging out with you in fifth year," James continued, "I guess it just sort of became habit."

She simply could not comprehend what he had just said. This was most surely not just another act in James's show. Somehow, she could tell that his confession was genuine. Maybe it was because he hadn't met her gaze yet, or perhaps it was because he seemed truly embarrassed admitting it, but Lily was certain that she was, for once, seeing a glimpse into the real James Potter.

But something didn't make sense. Why would he care that some random Gryffindor girl spent time with a Slytherin? He'd only known her, from what she thought, fourth year, yet he'd been bullying Snape since first. "You didn't even know me before fourth year, when…when I…" she couldn't bring herself to say it. She was talking about the day in fourth year when she'd been given that horrible dare.

James chuckled quietly. "Didn't know you? I don't expect there was one person who didn't know you, Lily."

Lily's eyes widened. What was he playing at? She was so sure this whole conversation was totally real, and if it was…No, that didn't change anything. He was still James Potter, the boy who had agreed to a bet to win her over. "But—you didn't know my name," she blurted out, trying to find a flaw in his story.

"Well," James said, staring at a spot a foot above her head, "you didn't know my name, so I just assumed…You remember first year?" James asked suddenly, breaking his concentration on his spot on the wall and looking at Lily.

She nodded.

"You remember the compartment you first sat in? The one with—"

"Two boys," Lily finished. She had forgotten. She hadn't realized that the guy who stood in front of her trying to win her over in exchange for five galleons had been the same boy who'd made fun of her and Snape on the Hogwarts Express.

"I guess I was always slightly intrigued by you," James explained, "I couldn't understand why anyone would _want_ to be put in Slytherin…"

"I didn't know anything about the differences between houses then," Lily said firmly.

James shrugged. "Well, I didn't know that. But that's how I knew who you were. You were a Muggle-born, who I thought wanted to be put in Slytherin but ended up in Gryffindor. Can't you see why I was interested? It's not everyday a Muggle-born _wants_ Slytherin."

Hadn't this conversation started out about Snape? How had it turned into a talk about how they had first met? Lily caught his gaze and they watched each other closely. "Severus wanted Slytherin, not me," she said quietly. By a look into the road Snape was currently traveling upon, Slytherin seemed like a fine fit for him now, she recalled sadly.

"Thank Merlin," James replied and he took a step towards her, taking her wrist in his hand softly.

Lily stumbled slightly when she tripped on the hem of her robes as she stepped backwards, keeping a safe distance between them. James seemed to take the hint and released her. Lily coughed into her hand.

"Let's get back to the common room," she suggested.

James smiled. "Lead the way."

Some kind of bond had formed between them. Lily wasn't quite sure why she felt it at the moment, but it had something to do with the honesty he had just spoken to her with. Doubts started forming in her mind. What if James wasn't acting? What if this really was the real him? Maybe he'd just matured. As much as she wanted to think that, it just didn't make sense. Why the bet then? And why did it all fit so perfectly together? The moment he starts acting all mature was the moment he and his friends made the bet. There were too many coincidences to believe the James had been sincere these past couple of weeks.

But nevertheless, Lily knew that they had just taken a step forward into their relationship. She felt it as they bid each other goodnight in the common room and she felt it as she fell asleep. The last thing she consciously thought was that phase four hadn't even happened yet, and already she felt closer to James Potter than she ever had.

* * *

_Sorry, but I just had to write this chapter. Snape's and Lily's relationship intrigued me! lol Their relationship won't be a huge basis of this story though; it is, after all, a Lily and James story._

_I know a lot of you are probably wondering why Lily in earlier chapters said stuff that wasn't too nice about Snape (for example, hexing the Truth or Dare parchment so that you'd have to kiss Snape if you refused to go through with your truth or dare), but never fear! All of that will be revealed in the next chapter...which won't be up until around three weeks from now. Sorry, but I don't have a choice. I'm going on vacation to a place where my computer can't follow...lol_

_Sorry if there were grammar mistakes, but I kind of read through it quickly because I have to get up so early tomorrow morning to catch my plane flight! Please forgive me!_

_I hope you all enjoyed Deathly Hallows! Have a great next few weeks! And please review so that when I come back from vacation (which, by the way, is a family reunion) I'll have messages in my mailbox from cool people like yourselves!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned anything of the wonderful world that belonged to JK Rowling, I'd want to own the Invisibility Cloak in order to run away from the cops for not putting this disclaimer up._

**A/N:** _Thank you so much for everyone who reviewed! I got home from vacation and was overwhelmed with the messages that were in my inbox waiting for me! Thanks a bunch!: TwinkieTUTUS, SiruislyBlackHearted, Dishonorable, CaramelBoost, Isolde Eris, -Jeisa-, pigs can fly, Monkinkninja, bandeepthebest, Cristipotter, Jessiquie, Danielle, lambgirl1, Mirrorbay2000, blendernized, hermione-G-wanna-be, SparklingEyesWithACrazyMind, Pyromaniac-Girl, Mrs Claire Potter, stardust718, Crystalsxyz, and C San. Thanks again to everyone who added me to their alerts!_

_So, sorry for the wait! But, I'm finally back from a very long, exhausting, trip. It was so fun, but it's good to be home. I get to sleep in my own bed! YAY (does a little happy dance). Anyways...on a sadder note, school starts next week...I dunno if I'm excited or dreading it...on the plus side, IT'S MY SENIOR YEAR BABY! WOO _

_Right, enough of my randomness and on with the story I say! I hope you enjoy it!_

_Oh, PS--I think this just might be my longest chapter yet! Isn't that spiffy? haha isn't that such a cool word? Go ahead, say it three times fast. Spiffy, spiffy, spiffy. Okay, now my randomness is totally done. Now, go read. lol_

* * *

**Chapter 12: Phase 4: Unorganized Chaos**

A sigh.

It's one of those words in the English language that can explain a multiple of different feelings that a person may be experiencing at the given time of the sigh. Depending on the circumstances, a sigh can mean 'Merlin, I have so much homework. McGonagall is a really foul…' followed by a string of words that probably aren't well-mannered enough to write down in this description. It can also be distinguished as 'Oh, look at that Ravenclaw sitting in the back corner…he's totally dreamy.' This would then be followed by glassy eyes and the occasional day dream.

In Lily Evans' case, however, her sigh—as she stood in the corridor being berated by a fifth year Gryffindor—meant 'Why in the name of Merlin am I allowing Amelia Evans to teach me her Beater tactics when I could be doing something more productive with my life?'.

"Now, since you have a tad case of chicken-arms, you might want to hold your bat by your side rather than up in the air; it's less weight for your skinny arms to hold," Amelia was saying.

Lily looked around desperately, looking for someone—_anyone_—to save her. "You know what, Amelia, I think I have to—" Lily tried to interrupt, but it was to no avail.

"And always try to hit the ball at a ninety degree angle. It goes much farther and will hit your opponent much harder," Amelia continued.

It slightly amazed Lily how Amelia could be so smart on the Quidditch field, yet so daft in the area of school. She supposed she should be grateful for Amelia's small brain, because if it weren't for her poor study skills and short-term memory James would not have had to kick Amelia off the team until she got her grades up. Thus, Lily would not have been able to join the Quidditch team and spend time with James—er…push the dare along.

But just because she was grateful that Amelia was flunking out of three of her subjects—which, as Head Girl, she shouldn't be encouraging—didn't mean she enjoyed being told what to do by the bothersome fifteen year old (who could easily pass as a twenty year old due to her size). That's why, when she heard a voice shouting her name from down the hallway, Lily couldn't help but mutter a "Thank, Godric" under her breath.

"Lily!" cried Dorcas, her blonde curls bouncing along on her shoulders as she skidded towards a halt beside Amelia. "Oh, hey, Amelia," she greeted, taking a slight step backwards as Amelia responded with a killer glare, as if it had been all Dorcas's fault she was failing Transfiguration, Potions, and Charms.

"Meadowes," Amelia nodded.

"Dorcas!" Lily said happily, "what's up?" she asked imploringly, hoping beyond hopes that whatever Dorcas needed her for would take her far, _far_, away from where she currently was.

With a raise of her eyebrows, as if telling Lily that she _should_ know perfectly well what's up, Dorcas held up her left hand which was holding her broomstick. It was just then that Lily noticed Dorcas's attire; red robes with gold trimming. Her Quidditch uniform. Shoot.

"Am I late?" she asked.

"Just a bit."

Amelia had narrowed her eyes during the two friends' exchange and, at the last statement, had turned her cold glare to Lily. Apparently, the ex-Beater felt that Lily was a poor replacement because she would had never forgotten her practice session. Well, at least Amelia had been able to remember _something _in that head of hers; that was promising, a bit.

"Is James mad?" Lily asked, ignoring the sound of Amelia's tapping foot and persistent stares.

"Haven't seen him yet; I came to find you. But if we stand here talking he will be," Dorcas said, grabbing her red-headed friend around the elbow and pulling her down the corridor.

"See you, Amelia," Lily called out happily, incredibly thankful for leaving that girl's…er…_intimidating_ presence.

"Try to pull those D's up, yeah?" Dorcas threw over her shoulder, apparently thinking that it was an adequate farewell.

Amelia's only response was to shout, "Remember to tuck in your elbows, Evans!"

Lily's final thoughts, as the two girls rounded a corner and Amelia disappeared from view, were, _'How in the name of Merlin did James handle that girl when she'd been on the team…more importantly, how badly did she hurt him when he kicked her off the team?'_

OO

In all his years on the Quidditch field, James had never experienced a worse practice. The lateness of two of his players had set the tone from the beginning, but even _that _looked like strawberry-flavored Bertie Botts compared to how the rest of the hour session had turned out. Especially since he had scheduled the pitch for two hours, not one.

Mark Botley, one of his Beaters, was having trouble adjusting to Amelia's absence being filled by Lily Evans. James thought that the main problem was that Amelia, being much broader than Lily, had been easier for Mark to spot in the midst of the other players. Lily's slimmer, and slightly shorter form, caused her to get lost within the other five players. Thus, Mark was having trouble deciphering if the Bludger was circling his fellow Chaser—who had no bat to protect himself with—or if the vicious ball was tailing his fellow Beater—who had a bat and could easily swat the offender away.

Quidditch was usually a game referred to as "organized chaos", but after their second match, which would not take place until January, James knew that Quidditch would be dubbed a new name—_unorganized_ chaos. He'd already sent Mary Macdonald, one of his fellow Chasers, up to the hospital wing after a Bludger had hit her in the back of the head, causing her nose to bleed incessantly. James himself had narrowly avoided getting his arm snapped in half, twice! And Lily had nearly collided her bat into Dorcas's head rather than the Bludger that had been two inches to the other side.

Unorganized chaos it was.

After about fifty minutes of this torture, James blew the whistle dangling from his neck sharply, and the shrill sound cut through the air. "Everyone down!" he bellowed, while he lowered himself to the ground and hopped off his broomstick. Five brooms landed around him in a circle.

Lily toppled off hers slightly.

He rubbed his temples soothingly as if her small blunder had hit him with the force of a mallet.

"Right, well, good try everyone," he said, looking around at his teams' downcast faces.

"Oh, don't lie, Potter," Daniel Sparks, the Keeper, said, "this was probably the worst practice we've ever had." The rest of the team murmured in agreement.

Finding no further encouraging lies, James simply shrugged and resumed to rubbing his forehead; he had a headache coming on, he could tell. "We play Slytherin after Christmas holidays," he said. "We only have two more practices before then—" he wished they had a million—"If we lose that match, we could be kicked out of the running. Don't forget, Slytherin creamed Ravenclaw last week. Ravenclaw's out; they'll be back in though if we lose to Slytherin. We can't let that happen."

He looked towards Lily, who was staring at the dirt beneath her feet and whose face had turned slightly pale. "Right, well, go get some dinner everyone, and I'll see you after the holidays."

Everyone trudged back off towards the castle, some muttering about how they were going to go check on Mary and some mumbling about how they were going to go ice their sore buttocks. As James headed towards the changing rooms to think things over, he caught Lily's eyes that seemed to be seeking him out. He gave her a tight, small grin and she simply shrugged in return.

"That was pathetic, mate."

James entered the changing rooms only to find Sirius sitting on a bench, a rather smug smile across his lips. He really didn't want to see his best friend at the moment; not when he was a defeated Quidditch player and captain.

"Shut up, Padfoot."

"How's the bet coming?" Sirius asked, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and crossing his arms casually. He was still smirking in that self-satisfied way, as if he'd just won some spectacular prize. Sirius wanted to win that bet. James wanted to punch him in the jaw.

"I thought I told you to shut up."

"Sorry, no can do, Prongs," he countered simply.

There was a short silence as James slumped down onto the bench opposite Sirius. He was completely drained; that Quidditch practice had hit him emotionally harder than any he ever had experienced. This was not looking good. James was an optimist, but even the best optimist in the world couldn't have found an upside to his situation.

"So, when is the deadline for this bet, again?" James asked suddenly in a low voice as if he were dreading the answer. Which he was actually. Sirius was bound to rub it in his face. Some friend he was.

Just like he predicted, Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "Given up already?"

"No." James said defiantly.

"Well, I suppose any hope you have is hanging by what happens in the match against Slytherin," Sirius answered.

"Right…"

Their conversation was cut short as someone else entered the locker room. James—already thankful that someone had just cut off Sirius's chance to gloat some more—was even more grateful at seeing the person who'd just entered.

"Lily!" James cried, jumping up from his seat.

"Nice practice, Evans," Sirius said sarcastically, watching her closely as if expecting to achieve a rise out of her.

Lily ignored him and Sirius's grey eyes narrowed. "I just came to put this school broom back," she answered to their unasked question as to why she was there. She walked past James and over to a small cupboard where all of the other old school brooms were stored when not in use. She glanced at James in a rather pitying way before shutting the door of the cupboard shut. James guessed she was just feeling sorry for him about how bad practice went. Honestly, who wasn't?

"Have you decided on what model of broom you want yet?" James asked her hopefully, an idea sparking. Maybe adding a new, good broom would be a good way to raise the team's spirit. And it could only improve Lily's game.

Sirius apparently thought it would be nice to answer for her. "Why bother? It's not like she's a permanent member of the team," Sirius said. James shot him a warning look. Why was his best friend such a tactless idiot?

"At least I didn't blow my tryouts like you did in third year and got banned from ever playing on the school team," Lily shot back. "Too bad, because otherwise you could have had my spot." Sirius gaped at her, for once in his life speechless. "I'll see you later, James."

The two boys watched her walk out of the door, back up towards the castle. James continued to watch her until she was a mere speck in the distance. "So, I've got until the second, maybe third, Quidditch match?" James asked, as he watched Lily's retreating back.

Rubbing his hands together joyfully because he thought James had absolutely no chance at all, Sirius responded, "That's right."

"I haven't given up yet, Padfoot."

Once again, Sirius found himself struck speechless.

OO

"That only gives you like…a month!" Marlene said in a outrage as she paced back and forth in front of Lily's bed.

"That's crazy!"

"Sirius said the outcome of the bet depended on the match against Slytherin?" Dorcas asked, once again making her friend repeat what she'd overheard in the changing rooms. It was sort of like déjà vu; Lily had found herself listening outside the door of the locker room, once again eavesdropping on the two little devil Marauders.

"Why does it depend on Quidditch, though?" Alice asked. Always the practical one, Alice always had to question people's intent.

Lily, who was slightly stressed out due to the fact that she had just figured out she only had a month left to get James to ask her out and then dump him, threw her arms in the air out of frustration.

"I dunno! I don't attempt to figure out the way those boys' minds work!"

"There are few who do," mumbled Marlene. "Hey, maybe, if you guys win the match, James is planning to get you drunk off of Firewhisky," Marlene offered.

Lily shot her a look.

"Don't worry, Lily. Perhaps Quidditch _is_ just a game based on luck and Gryffindor won't win, thus no Firewhisky," Alice reassured.

Dorcas gasped. "That's what Lily and Snape used to say; 'Oh, Quidditch, it's just luck, boohoo'. Please tell me you haven't turned over to the dark side as well!"

"I knew I never liked that guy," Marlene muttered, referring to Snape, as she strongly admired Quidditch players and didn't like it when people said anything against the sport.

"Which is why you made Lily add that rule about kissing Snape to our Truth or Dare guide," Alice said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, speaking of which, I was almost surprised when you chose to pretend to like James Potter when you could have just given your childhood best friend a nice, little smooch," Dorcas added.

Yeah right, like Lily would have given Severus the satisfaction of a potential sign of truce.

Lily's heart raced even more than it already was at the mention of Snape's name. She hadn't told her friends what she'd seen during patrol with James. She didn't want to hear all of the "I told you so's". As she thought of the patrol in the dungeons, she thought of James, which irreversibly made her think of the bet, which—in turn—made her think of the dare. It was like one big Ferris wheel that never stopped to let its passengers off!

"I'm going to have to start moving things along, aren't I?" Lily said finally, cutting off her friends who were reminiscing about unfortunate run-ins they'd had with Severus Snape over the years. She didn't need to hear them.

"Exactly," Dorcas said, jumping back into the problem at hand.

"Since James wants to win, won't he just ask Lily out sometime soon before the cut-off date anyways?" Alice asked.

Hey, that was true. Lily hadn't thought of it that way.

"Yes, but we want to crush him. Lily needs to show him what he could have, what he _will_ have, before she dumps his Marauding heart," Marlene explained.

Oh, yeah, that was also true.

"But Christmas break is coming up in less than a week; we don't have much time" Alice commented, realizing the problem.

And that is where the main problem was found.

The four girls sat in silence, each contemplating the situation. Lily was at a complete loss. Maybe they should just give up. When James asked her out, she could still say no and cause him to lose five galleons—and his dignity—to Sirius. But that just wouldn't be the same satisfaction. Marlene was right. She had to get his hopes up, get him to want her...

There had to be a way to fix this.

As if answering her pleas, Marlene sat up sharply, a wicked grin lighting up her face. "Lily, what are your plans for Christmas?"

OO

"Pst, Peter."

Peter looked around, confused as to who was "pst-ing" at him. He and the Marauders were walking down a corridor on the way to their Charms lesson. There was no one around except his friends—they had just come from their free period and everyone else was still in lessons—and they were being too rowdy to "pst" at him. So, the question remained, who was calling him?

He soon found out the answer.

"Peter! Pst! Pstttttt."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," another voice whispered.

And before he could protest or do anything, someone muttered, "Silencio," while someone else grabbed him as the group walked by an empty classroom. He opened his mouth to yelp in surprise, but no one, not even his friends who were less than three feet away, could hear him.

His captors pulled him into the classroom and another person, who wasn't holding him or casting a spell on him, shut the door softly so as to not alert anyone.

"Now, Peter, we're going to take off the Silencio charm, but don't yell, okay?"

Peter relaxed as someone turned on the lights to the classroom. It was only Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice who had kidnapped him. Alright, so he relaxed…slightly. At least they weren't Slytherins. Peter nodded, agreeing to their terms, and Dorcas said the incantation as Marlene released her hold on him. It felt as if something that had been pressing on his voice box had just been lifted away; he found that he could now speak. He rubbed his throat with his short fingers.

He glanced towards the door, but Alice was standing in front of it. "Hey, Peter," Marlene said, as if this sort of thing happened everyday and was completely normal.

"H-Hey," he answered, looking between the three girls. "Er…why did you ambush me?"

"Well," Dorcas began as if she were about to launch into a super long story, "we couldn't' possibly ask Sirius or Remus to do the favor we need of you. Sirius has something against Lily; Remus follows them around everywhere like some poor, lost animal, and James—well, we can't really tell James because he can't know that you know what we are about to tell you."

Peter blinked rapidly, trying to process what he had just been told. It liked like his watery eyes were going through a twitch attack. "Er…can you run that by me again...in English?"

Marlene sighed. "Can you do something for us?"

He shifted uncomfortably. He didn't really like where this was going—even though he really had no clue where this conversation was heading anyways. "Well, as a Marauder, I've been strictly told not to—"

"Oh, please. Don't listen to what Sirius and Remus tell you to do. What we want you to do will help us, and even James—"

"—for the time being," muttered Alice.

"What was that?" Peter asked suspiciously, observing Alice curiously.

"Oh, nothing. So, what do you say, Peter?" Alice corrected herself quickly, arranging her face into a completely, and rather believable, look of innocence. Who knew Peter could be that observant?

"I dunno…what's the problem?" he asked.

"Are James's parents still going to hold their New Year's party this year?" Marlene asked. Close to every year, the Potters—high Ministry officials—hosted a party on New Year's. Marlene, whose parents worked closely with the Potters, was always invited. It was the perfect plan.

"I think so. Prongs just got a letter this morning from his mum, and—"

"Excellent," Marlene interrupted. "Now, Peter, what we are about to ask of you can't be shared with anyone else, got it?" she asked, while fingering her wand and smirking down at the poor, helpless boy.

Peter gulped. "I suppose so." His eyes followed the movement of her wand.

"Tell James to invite Lily to the party," Dorcas said.

"Uh—what?!"

"You know; boy asks girl out, girl says yes, they have a fun time together without hexing each other," Marlene explained.

"I know what 'invite' means," Peter said, clearly stung by the girls' good-natured sarcasm, "but every time James has ever asked Lily out, he gets turned down."

"Where have you been for the past few weeks, Peter?" Alice asked.

"We have good reason to believe Lily will say yes," Dorcas continued.

Peter looked from one girl to the next. "Well…"

"Are you going to help us or not?"

Marlene stared at Alice, who in turn winked at Dorcas, who ended up engaging Peter in a blinking contest. Dorcas peered at Peter, unblinkingly, and he finally cracked.

"Fine."

"Excellent!"

"It shouldn't be too hard to convince him to do it, right?" he asked nervously, running a hand through his head of thick blond hair.

The girls all grinned. Nope, they didn't think that it would be that difficult at all. If all went according to plan, and James was now pressured by this deadline, he would jump at the chance of asking Lily to his New Year's party.

Phase four had begun. Now all Lily had to do was agree.

OO

It was by far the easiest phase Lily had done yet. This time around, her only job was to sit back and wait for James to approach her. The only thing she was responsible for was to answer yes to his question. Like she said, it wasn't that bad. Alright, so there had been a time earlier in her life—fine, a week ago—where agreeing to go to a party hosted by James Potter would have been extremely difficult for her to do. Apparently, her friends had been thinking along the same lines, because they had admitted to Lily that the phase where she'd have to go somewhere with James hadn't been until phase six. However, seeing as the timing had been right—and, not to mention, the impeccable acting skills of Lily—phase six had moved up the list to spot number four.

Lily didn't mind, really. She quite enjoyed James Potter…or, more accurately, the new James Potter. She didn't have to worry about pompous declarations of love, or poorly timed pranks, or anything about James Potter that normally drove her up the wall. And, as an added bonus, she'd be able to attend an all Wizards party, full of Ministry workers who could possibly give her a briefing on different jobs available for after graduation.

So, as she waited for Peter to relay the idea of asking her to the New Year's party to James, Lily constantly made sure that James would have an easy shot of cornering her whilst she was alone. She made sure to lag behind in all of her classes, but James never once took the hint. Sometimes he'd walk up to her, touch her lightly on the small of her back, and say hello to her. Every time he did this, her heart leapt, hoping that he was about to commence phase four—no matter how unknowingly—but she was always disappointed. Never once did she ever hear him mention New Year's.

It was on the last day of lessons, when her friends were about ready to jump Peter and punish him for his poor communication skills, that it happened.

"Studying on the last day before vacation? Now, that's something I haven't seen before."

Lily elicited a grin as she turned around in her seat in the secluded part of the Gryffindor common room to face a happy-looking James. "Only because you've never done it," she joked back, shoving her books and paper out of the way to make a place for him to sit.

"I study," he said, plopping down in a chair next to hers, "I just prefer to stretch it out over a period of time rather than doing it all at once."

She simply laughed, putting down her quill, knowing that with him beside her she wouldn't be able to concentrate. Besides, she had a feeling that phase four was about to be completed.

"So, doing anything special this Christmas?" he asked.

Aha. He was going in for the kill.

"Nothing, really. Going home to the family, where I'll probably be buried by pounds and pounds of wedding details," she answered evasively, giving him the bait to ask her. Hopefully her plans sounded boring enough.

"Planning on eloping with a Muggle neighbor this winter?"

"My sister."

"That would be considered lesbian incest, Lily."

James was grinning at her and she couldn't help but to hit him playfully on the arm. "I meant, my sister's getting married, you dork."

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing," James said, picking up one of her books and flipping through it randomly.

Lily watched him for a while; did he always have to have something to do with his hands? For some reason, she felt like reaching out and grabbing his wrists just to make him stop fidgeting with the book. She quickly shook that thought out of her head. Close contact should be avoided when ever not necessary.

"Her fiancé doesn't really…well, mesh well with me," she answered, deciding not to go into too many details about Vernon Dursley as none of them were very pleasant.

"Anyways," Lily continued, "do you have any plans?"

"Actually, I do."

It was as if she didn't dare to breathe. Her insides squirmed with anticipation. "Oh?" she asked, egging him on.

"You see, every year or so my parents host this New Year's thing—ball, party type thing. Usually it's just me and Sirius surrounded by Ministry adults and their kids…" Lily noticed that he was rambling and really wished that he would just get to the point. "So, to make things more interesting, I was wondering—well, what are you doing for New Year's?"

Her feet actually twitched like they wanted to get up and jump around in a happy victory dance. "James, I'd love to come," she blurted out.

His hazel eyes widened slightly at her abrupt proposal, possibly because he was surprised that she'd answered his question that he hadn't specifically asked yet. He quickly recovered, however, and he smiled in a relieved sort of way.

"Really?"

"Of course. It's either that or spend New Year's with Petunia and Dursley," she answered, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"Well, then," he stood up and she followed his gesture, "it's sort of a formal thing."

"Afraid that I'm going to show up in sweatpants?" she joked.

"You'd probably still look better than half of the middle-aged women there," he responded, shrugging.

"I dunno if I should be insulted or flattered by that statement."

They both started to laugh quietly. Eventually they settled down and silence followed. "I suppose I'll send you an owl with all the details then."

"Alright."

She stepped up to him and hugged him loosely with one arm around his neck. It was sort of awkward, as if each one didn't know quite how to respond. James settled for patting her on the back with one hand while wrapping his other around her waist. It was brief, but it was enough.

Lily was the first to step back and end that odd moment of intimacy. "I'll see you around, James."

Phase four was officially in business.

* * *

_J'ai fini! Thanks for reading! Tune in next time to see what happens during Lily's Christmas break and what kind of trouble insues as Lily attends the Potters New Year's party. Oh, what fun!_

_Ohhh, I'm looking into Trelawney's crystal ball and it's showing people reviewing to a story! Alright, so Divination is usually whack, but just this once help poor Trelawney's prediction come true! So, please review! Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you guys later. For those of you going back to school, good luck and have fun!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** _Hmmm...let me think about this...nope, I don't even own squiddly squat._

**A/N:** _Ohhh Professor Trelawney is so thrilled that her prediction came true. So thrilled, in fact, that she agreed to stop teaching Divination! (All the Hogwarts' students cheer!) Anyways, thank you SO MUCH to: sunstone-dono, sarcasticrules, JetGriffins89, bandeepthebest, Mouse and Stupid Productions, cosmopolitan, Diana2, Green Crayons, Claudita, The Marauders And Lily 2, C San, bluecanada, Missvee, TwinkieTUTUS, -Jeisa-, mini-cactus, tashville007, novel-writer92, pigs can fly, lillers, Cristipotter, Sprut, The13thDoctor, soccerxpotterxlife, LyLMystiKeLf, IHeartJamesPotter, Mrs Claire Potter, and stardust718. You all pretty much make my day! For real!_

_So, this chapter is WAY over due. School has been hectic, college applications have been hectic, and I'm sick. So, I decided to take a break from all the hectic-ness in my life and finally finish this beasting of a chapter. lol I don't really know if I completely like this chapter, but I like how it ended so it's alright._

_Have fun reading!_

* * *

**Chapter 13: A Twist of Fate  
**

_Lily,_

_Happy Christmas! (Though I suppose it's not really Christmas anymore—so, I suppose I should say happy late Christmas? Whatever)—_

Lily allowed herself a moment to laugh at the absurd thoughts of James Potter, before her eyes drifted back towards the letter once again. The owl that had delivered it (she guessed it was James's owl) hooted softly in the background.

—_I'm writing you to let you know of the details— information— whatnot for the New Year's party. That is, if you still want to come, which I'm hoping you do because my mum is expecting you…I'm rambling again, aren't I? How about I just cut right to the chase and tell you the information. _

_The party's being held at my house in the ballroom, December 31__st__, obviously. Guests are supposed to start arriving at seven, but a lot of them are Ministry officials so they believe in being 'fashionably late'. You may come earlier or later if you want, but I suggest coming earlier. _

She grinned inwardly.

_My address is 33 Godric's Hollow. You can Apparate or Floo, however if you Apparate you'll appear in a small alley a few blocks from my house (precautionary Auror strategies…it's safer, but makes things a heck of a lot harder). Just continue north from there. It's not far. Now, I don't know if your family is connected to the Floo network, but if you want my parents can talk to the ministry and have your fireplace set up for the day. Just send Harley back with your response._

_So, I'll see you soon!_

_--James_

Harley? That must be the owl.

For a while, Lily simply sat on her bed, the letter held in her hand and her eyes staring at James's boyish, but in its own strange way, neat handwriting. It wasn't until James's owl gave a loud, interrupting hoot that Lily snapped out of whatever reverie she had been in and grabbed a spare piece of parchment and quill. She quickly wrote that she couldn't wait and would, after some consideration, arrive by Apparition—she had never Floo-ed before, and quite honestly the thought of flying through fireplaces frightened her. Was it possible to get burned?

"Alright, come here you," she said, advancing on the bird and attaching her note to its leg. The large bird was unusually patient as it stuck its leg out importantly. She didn't know why she found this odd, but she had always pictured anything of James's to be chaotic, random, or spastic…again, she didn't quit know why. Once she had finished tying and adjusting her letter, Harley flew out of her open window with one single sweep of its brown wings.

Her mind traveled back to the letter. Ballroom? She had always known that James's family was probably pretty well off, but if they had a ballroom in their house, how much money did they really have? As she wondered what it would look like, with elegant Witches and Wizards dancing around the marble floor—that is, if it was marble—she thought about what she should wear. Dress robes automatically popped to her mind, as she knew that those were what Witches wore to fancy events. But seeing as she'd never been to a full-out Wizarding ball before, she didn't own any. Well, shopping at a Muggle store was simply out of the question. A trip to Diagon Alley seemed to be needed…

"Lily," her Mum's voice called up to her from downstairs, "will you come down here for a moment? I need help picking out invitation cards for Petunia."

Groaning at the prospect of more wedding details, and wondering why in the world Petunia couldn't do the dirty job herself, Lily hitched a smile on her face. "Sure." Her face automatically rearranged itself into a scowl after she'd answered. When she got married, she most definitely _would_ want to be involved with all of her wedding details. And she most surely wouldn't place the responsibility on her family, who _had_ to love and help each other because of a single connecting line on a family tree.

The kitchen table was so covered with placards of different flower arrangements, examples of different types of silverware, and paint chips for the color schemes that the Evans family had to eat their meals on the small coffee table in the living room. In short, Lily's house, which was already small and cramped to begin with, was now in an incredibly messy, and jam-packed, uproar.

"I like that one, mum," Lily said, peering over her mother's shoulder and looking at the array of different silver cards on the table all bearing the words, 'You have been cordially invited to…' in sweeping cursive writing.

"Me too, although I have a feeling Petunia won't like the baby blue writing on these," her mother responded, biting her lip and staring between the cards intently.

"Why did she even consider it as a choice then?"

"She didn't; her planner did."

Lily sighed, getting a cup from the cabinet and filling it up with water from the tap. "Mum, if Petunia cared that much about the color or the lettering, she should be here doing it."

Her mum gave her one of those looks that mothers often reserve for their daughters when the before said daughter is being unusually unhelpful or rude towards their sister's wedding plans. Kate Evans' emerald eyes—that were so much like her daughter's—narrowed, and she placed her hands on her hips. "Lily, do please try to sound interested in Petunia's affairs," she said.

"She's having an affair? Spicy…"

"Lily…" Mrs. Evans warned.

"Fine, fine, but I still like that baby blue one."

Her mother continued busying herself with her eldest daughter's pre-wedding 'must do's' as Lily's mind drifted, out of her control, to December 31st and a certain messy haired boy…

"Mum, I need to go to Diagon Alley," she said unexpectedly.

Still busy with the invitation cards, Mrs. Evans didn't even look up at her daughter. Lily hardly expected her words to actually penetrate through her mum's overly-worked brain. "What's that, dear?"

Point made.

"I need dress robes for that party I'm going to," Lily answered.

"Right, right, that Snape boy's ball."

Lily sighed. "No, that James Potter boy's ball," she clarified.

Finally focusing her mind, Kate Evans focused her eyes on her youngest daughter. "I thought you never liked him."

Now, that was a bit harsh. Alright, so it really wasn't considering all the ranting stories she had told her family about that 'obnoxious Potter boy'. But how does a well-behaved daughter explain to their mother that they're only pretending to like Potter in order to get him back because his best friend stupidly bet him that he couldn't get the girl, and the only reason she was even bothering to do this at all was because it was phase four of her dare, but secretly she was enjoying it; and all the meanwhile, her heart was leaning more and more towards James Potter no matter how much she tried to stop it? Phew, that was a mouth full. Again, how does a daughter possibly explain all that to their mum? In short, they don't.

So, she casually leaned up against the kitchen table—almost sending samples of porcelain plates to the ground—and said, "He's changed."

Her mother nodded before resuming her job as the mother-of-the-soon-to-be-bride. "Alright then, but I don't see why you just can't wear that red gown you bought for your uncle's wedding…"

No matter how hard Lily tried, she knew she would never be able to explain to her parents all the workings of the magical world. Somehow she doubted that they would fully understand it even if she tried. Heck, she didn't even understand all of it. Like, how does a charmed game of Truth or Dare turn into such a complicated mess?

OO

_Pop!_

A black and white cat ran off in fright as Lily Apparated into the small alley that James had described to her in his letter. It wasn't like those scary alleys that are often on the news as a place where a gang fight occurred or where a young girl was kidnapped and raped in. Contrary to her belief, it was actually more of a little country lane. The sides of two shops towered over her and the smell of baking bread was coming from somewhere. Definitely not the scene for something dodgy—although she wondered if appearing out of thin air as if by magic would be considered dodgy in this town.

She did a quick scan of her surroundings and decided that she should go left, as it seemed like an exit that would lead out to a street. Snow was falling softly from the dimming sky and the cobbled side walks were slowly being covered with a thin layer of white. She wouldn't mind living here, really.

She stopped as she got out of the alley and breathed in deeply. The cold air rushed through her lungs and it slightly relaxed the nerves she hadn't known she possessed. She subconsciously straightened her dress robes and checked to make sure her wand was still in her clutch bag. The robes that she had picked out were simple enough, yet they looked elegant on her—or at least she thought so. They were a periwinkle blue—("No, mum, I am not getting those green ones just because they match my eyes!)—and they hugged her body nicely. Because she had never tried on dress robes before, she was surprised to find that they actually fit like Cocktail-gowns and were tailored in different styles.

"Point me," she said, placing her wand flat on her palm. Her wand spun for a second in her hand then settled, the tip pointing right. So, she assumed that was north and headed the way her wand was telling her to go, and the way James had told her in his letter.

If any Muggles were around—which she wasn't sure if there were; was this an all Wizard's neighborhood?—they would probably wonder why a dressed-up, attractive seventeen year old girl was holding a stick in her hand and following its direction. A complete nutter is what they'd think she was. She chuckled slightly and continued walking.

_Thirty. _

Wow. These were pretty nice houses. Very cute.

_Thirty-one. Thirty-two…_

What was James's house number again? Oh yeah, that's right. It was—

_Thirty-three._

Oh Merlin, this was it! How had she gotten there so fast? She hadn't even had time to mentally prepare herself yet! Alright, so she'd had like two weeks to emotionally prepare herself—and to be honest she had been looking forward to this—but still! Somewhere twenty feet away from her, the Potter family was waiting for their guests to arrive! She was twenty feet away from spending an entire evening waltzing around a ballroom with James Potter! Hm…she could always turn and run…

She pushed past the front gate…

And it was New Year's! Wasn't this like the national kissing holiday or something? Anyone that was anyone knew that couples were meant to share a kiss at the stroke of midnight. But were they a couple? Did they count? Why the heck did people do that anyways? Her stomach flipped. Was she the nervous-excited as in she was looking forward to entering James's house? Or was she the nervous-excited as in she was excited about potentially getting the heck out of there?

She walked up the front steps—almost slipping on the snow because of her slight high heels— and stopped in front of a large, glass paneled door...

_To run, or to knock, that is the question?_

Slightly aware that she looked like an imbecile, Lily continued to stare at the door, one hand curled into a fist and hovering inches from the barrier that separated her non-James life from her James-consumed life. What to do, what to do?

_Oh, get a hold of yourself, Evans! _

But just as she got her wits back together, and decided that running away most definitely was a stupid thing to do, she heard voices from the other side of the door.

"I told you she was here!"

"You think something's wrong with her? Your parents said she's been standing there for hours…"

"Let's leave her here."

"Padfoot!"

The door was suddenly wrenched open with Lily's hand hanging somewhere between the doorknocker and the doorbell. She immediately dropped her risen fist to her side as she was greeted by four people, three of whom she didn't really wish to see and one who she _had_ to see but secretly _wanted_ to see. _Stop thinking like that!_

"Sirius," she said, addressing the new bane of her very existence who had just declared his idea of leaving her standing outside on the doorstep in below zero weather, "your overwhelming kindness never fails to amaze me."

The three other boys laughed, though Remus was eyeing her carefully. He was probably worried that if Lily played her cards right tonight, she could get any information she wanted out of James. Funny thought really, since Lily didn't have any plans of doing anything with James that might make her like him even more. _Argh! Stop it! _She mentally slapped herself.

"I do try," Sirius said.

"I'm sure you do. Hey, James," she proclaimed, stepping towards him.

"Lily, you've made it," James exclaimed, pushing the door back further.

Curiously, she looked past him and into the front foyer of his house. What she saw made her speechless. His house wasn't anything like she'd imagined; there were no marble pillars, or little fountains, or glistening chandeliers. Nope, James Potter's house was completely…normal. How odd. So, where was the ballroom exactly?

Light and music spilled out from a couple doors down the hall, and Lily could hear the chattering of guests talking to one another. The party must not have gotten into full swing yet because it didn't seem very chaotic yet.

"You're early," Peter said suddenly, as if he had read Lily's thoughts.

"How come?" Remus asked sharply, his eyes opened wide as if trying to tell Lily to back off without words. It actually only made him look like a monkey...a constipated monkey.

Before Lily could respond with an incredibly witty comment, James said rather defensively, "I told her to."

Lily looked at him and smiled, getting her first good look of him. He was dressed in dark blue robes that made him look about three years older, but his hair was just as messy as ever. If Lily wasn't so against allowing herself to fall for him, she would have admitted he looked good. Oh, what the heck, she might as well admit it. James Potter looked fine.

She looked at his robes again and noticed something strange. Was this some sort of sick and twisted sign of fate that they were both wearing blue?

OOO

The party didn't get into full swing until around eight o'clock. Like James's had said, Ministry officials apparently did find it good-mannered to arrive as late as possible without seeming rude. Slightly odd, but who was she to judge.

There was indeed a ballroom. It seemed so out of place from the rest of the house that Lily assumed it had been put up by magic specifically for this night; after questioning James she found out her suspicion had been true. The walls and ceiling were made of glass, giving the impression that they were really dancing outside. The lighting must have been magically added as well. It was all rather romantic. Thank goodness for wands.

The biggest surprise wasn't the ballroom, nor the very good array of foods, nor the Wizarding band that the Potter's had hired, nor the wink she'd received from across the room from her best friend Marlene, but it was the way Lily was feeling while around James Potter. He must've told his friends to bugger off before the party began, and Lily was extremely surprised to find out they had listened…for the most part.

"Is it just me, or does Remus always seem to appear right beside us?" James asked, his hand placed lightly on the small of her back while he handed her a glass of Butterbeer with the other.

Lily looked to her left slightly and saw Remus hovering three feet away, pretending to talk to Peter about something or another. She looked back at James and smiled. It was either the effect of the Butterbeer, or the soothing joyous atmosphere that got to her, but for whatever the reason she began talking. "Well, I think it has something to do with us."

James blinked. "Us? Why us?"

_Don't play stupid with me_. He knew perfectly well why Remus would be behaving in this way; he wanted five galleons. Boys were so stupid. And yet she was the one that was becoming attached to James Potter. That was not fair! And now she wanted to mess with him because of it. "Oh, come on, James. Think about it. Our relationship kind of has bloomed out of nowhere—"

"—Relationship?" His eyes brightened.

"—and Remus is just suspicious that's all."

"Relationship?" he repeated again, his arm snaking around her waist and pulling her towards him. For a split second Lily's head began to spin because she thought for sure James was going to kiss her. But then he went and surprised her…again.

"Come on. Let's dance."

He pulled her by the hand through the midst of people on the dance floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Remus grab Marlene by the wrist and he hotly pursued them. Lily chuckled to herself.

Dancing with James, Lily soon found out, was rather intoxicating. Well, she hadn't really had much dancing experience with guys to be able to compare, but James just had a charming way about him. A couple of times, Lily began wondering whether James really was completing his bet. No matter how hard she tried to remember, she kept forgetting that this was all just a façade—on both sides. He was just using her as a bet, and she had started using him to get him back. But what if it had changed?

With each passing minute, Lily felt herself drawing closer and closer to James and pretty soon her head rested on his shoulder as he revolved them around the dance floor. If she was experiencing all of this, there was no way that James could be completely immune to it. What if he was slowly falling for her too? No one was this good of an actor.

"You know," James began, "my mum has been throwing you looks all night."

"Hmm," she hummed lazily.

"I think she wants to meet you."

The force of what he said hit her hard. Her head jumped from his shoulder, just narrowly avoiding his chin, her eyes wide. "What?"

He was looking at her strangely. In all honesty he had every right to. But if he wanted her to meet his parents…how could this all just be a bet? She was so confused! Not even James Potter would sink so low as to lie about this fake relationship to his parents as well! Did this mean that—_Argh, stop reading too much into this! _

They had stopped dancing and people were looking at them strangely. "You're not scared, are you?" he joked, smirking at her. He was trying to keep the mood light.

As if on cue, Remus and Marlene appeared at James's elbow. "Who's scared of what?" Marlene asked.

"Lily's afraid of my parents," James said.

"I am not!"

"Well, let's go meet them, shall we?"

Lily and Marlene shared a glance, and Lily automatically knew that she wasn't the only one confused by this gesture. By the look on Remus's face, she also came to realize she wasn't the only one fearing this gesture.

"Prongs, they seem kind of busy at the moment…" Remus said nervously, glancing at James's mum and dad, who were at the buffet laughing with each other—in other words, they were completely unoccupied.

Darn it.

OOO

"Lily, we've heard so much about you," Mrs. Potter greeted enthusiastically, grasping Lily's hand comfortably and beaming at the red head.

"Have you?" she asked, shooting a furtive look at James, who didn't look embarrassed in the slightest. If the roles had been reversed, and it was her parents meeting James, she'd be slightly humiliated.

"It's not every day a young woman can smack a boy back into his place, especially when it's James," his mother replied, hazel eyes twinkling. Her eyes reminded Lily of James's, but without the glasses. His father was the vision-impaired one.

Lily smiled, immediately warming up to Mrs. Potter. This wasn't so bad. Unless James had included all the names she'd called him and abuse she'd done to him in the stories he'd shared with his family. Now that would have been slightly embarrassing.

"You look so darling, Lily," Mrs. Potter said admiringly, "doesn't she, dear?"

Mr. Potter—although balding, one could definitely tell where James got his unruly hair from—nodded. "It's nice to finally put a face to the name."

"It's nice to meet you both," Lily said politely, grinning at James who touched her hand with his. "Thank you for inviting me; this place looks amazing."

After a few more pleasantry exchanges, Mr. and Mrs. Potter were swept away by the Minister of Magic and his wife. This left James and Lily alone, once again...that is until Sirius came running up to them out of no where, pulled James into a hug, kissed Lily on the cheek, and exclaimed, "Two more minutes until New Year's!"

Slightly gob-smacked, they watched him run off and stumble into Remus, Peter, and Marlene.

"You know, normally I wouldn't find that odd, except for the fact that he got to kiss you before I have," James said confidently.

Lily's laughter caught in her throat. At that moment—and she couldn't quite explain why—an affection for the boy standing in front of her surged to a new extreme. Marlene was grinning at her, Remus was scowling, Sirius was waltzing with an un-reluctant Peter, and all of the expectations that were placed on her for this dare flew from her mind.

She stepped forward and kissed him on the cheek.

And that was the first thing she'd done on her own, without the help of the dare and without her friends' advice.

When she pulled back, she found James looking at her, an expression somewhere between shock and joy plastered across his face, unable to budge. "Come here," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her further away from the party and into a little corner. Her heart began pumping wildly. What was he going to do?

He reached inside his robes and Lily watched him curiously. He wasn't going to streak, was he? Wow, she couldn't believe she'd even considered that as an option. Thankfully, instead of disrobing, James finally found what he was looking for and pulled out a small, white envelope.

His eyes watched her earnestly as he held the envelope out to her. "I wanted to get you something for Christmas," he explained, placing the card in Lily's hand.

Woah! She hadn't seen that one coming. This was all getting so meddled up! "James, you really didn't—"

"Just open it," he said anxiously.

Her fingernail slid along the seal and unfastened it. With a smile she couldn't contain, Lily pulled out a laminated rectangluar piece of parchment. She shot him a look and he nodded, egging her on.

It was a sort of gift card, like she saw in all the Muggle department stores, except this one had broomsticks flying around on it. She read it and her heart leapt. It was a Quidditch gift card for Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley.

"Fifty galleons?" she asked incredulously, shaking her head in disbelief. Usually she wouldn't except something like this, but for some reason she felt like it would be highly rude to reject it. Nevertheless, she continued shaking her head. "James…"

"Well, you've been wanting a new broom, and my parents know some people, and I mean, it could help the team—"

"—You're rambling again," she said softly, before she threw herself at him. He caught her easily and held her tightly. "Thank you," she said into his ear before she stood back, beaming.

It felt good being held by him, no matter how clichéd that sounded. It was true. In fact, it felt so right that when his head began inching closer to hers, she didn't back off.

Nothing happened. That evil little bugger that those darn Greeks were so fascinated with called fate had found the opportune moment to step in. The countdown to midnight had begun, and with it, Lily's senses had returned.

Kissing him fully was the last thing she needed at the moment. And yet, the national kissing holiday was only ten seconds away.

Oh bugger.

OOO

_Ten…_

Shoot. They were still off in a corner by themselves. Where was fate going to lead her now? Lily's heart beat faster. She'd made the first move. She'd kissed him on the cheek. She'd hugged him. She'd almost allowed him to kiss her…on the mouth! Did that make it okay for him to try to kiss her _again_?

_Nine…eight…seven…_

Her stomach jumped as James retook her hand softly in his. What _was_ he doing?

_Six…five…_

Was it just her, or did James use some sort of body lotion that made his hands especially smooth. She instantly mentally slapped herself for thinking such absurd thoughts. Whatever she did, she shouldn't look at him. If she did, she would lose it. That's how she'd lost it the first time!

_Four…three…_

She lost it—whatever she had, she'd lost it. Her eyes met his and everything seemed to stop. He held her fast and hard with his gaze. She could feel her resolve falling, crumbling around her like burnt parchment.

Not again!

Was she dying?

_Two…_

Her breathing quickened (so she supposed she wasn't dead), and she knew that if she didn't gain control of herself quickly, she'd soon find herself passed out on the floor. Or in James Potter's arms…Oh, Merlin! And yet, she didn't dare break their connection.

_One!_

"Happy New Year's!"

Everyone began cheering and laughing happily. Husbands grabbed their wives and wrapped their arms around them; young children popped Christmas crackers and magical toys and Wizard's hats were exploding everywhere. But Lily was oblivious to all of this noise, because all that mattered were James's eyes fixed to hers. Her thoughts were slipping away before she could even catch a hold of them.

"Lily…" he breathed. It was as if he not dared to speak louder for fear of alerting the girl in front of him back to her senses.

He took her other hand in his, turning her so she was facing him full on. All rational reasons for not doing this were leaving her memory and the only thing that was flowing through her mind was, _So, this is why it's the national kissing holiday._

Whatever vibe that was flowing between them began pulling them closer. She could smell his scent and it was driving her crazy. Before she had time to even register what was happening, she found herself up against James with his head leaning down towards her.

And then his lips brushed up against hers.

_The bet! The dare! The bet!_

* * *

_Well, that was a long one. Now, I'm gonna go get some cough drops and whatever other medicine will help me. lol I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And it would be great if you could review. Maybe Trelawney will promise to give up Divination all together! (Hogwarts' students cheer again!)_

_Have a great week!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** _I only just found out how old Teddy Lupin is. So, with that, I don't own Harry Potter._

**A/N:** _AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Thank you all so incredibly much for reviewing! You are all the best: Pyromaniac-Girl, -Jeisa-, lilbit18, Green Crayons, iBlametheNargles, Jenn, CaramelBoost, Luminous Star, LyLMystiKeLf, sunstone-dono, SparklingEyesWithACrazyMind, Cristipotter, coffee dessert, fairycake, Emma Knightley, TwinkieTUTUS, penguin poodle penis, Moon Comix, bandeepthebest, dddynamite, stinkabhel, PrimaDi88, Mrs Claire Potter, Mouse and Stupid Productions, Red n Black Roses, C San, serenity12345, MourningBlade, Sprut, tashville007, and stardust718. Again, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! You guys are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. _

_So, IT HAS ONLY BEEN TWO WEEKS! Is that record? I dunno, I can't keep track of things like that. I think I have ADD. Anyways, I just finished re-reading the seventh book for the second time, and I noticed something that I had never realized before. Teddy Lupin in nineteen years old in the epilogue! I totally didn't catch that the first time. I always thought he was like twelve so I was surprised to read he was snogging Victoire. lol Wow, okay that was random. _

_Now, on with the story I say._

_Have fun reading!_

* * *

**Chapter 14: Phase five: Crave My Kisses**

She really hadn't enjoyed it, had she?

No.

Was she only saying that because that was the answer she desperately wished she could give?

Of course.

Her mind was like one big blur. Everything was bottled up inside of her just waiting to spill from her securely zipped mouth. She hadn't spoken to anyone about what had happened at the party, including Marlene, who had been at the party, and who Lily had avoided for the rest of the night. It would have been odd talking about that _thing_ that had happened at _his_ house. And she couldn't have possibly have sent a letter to her friends discussing the incident; what if the letters had been intercepted? Her sin would have been written down on paper for anyone to see. No, sending letters definitely hadn't been an option…

"Had a good holiday, Lily?" a seventh year Hufflepuff from her Charms class asked her as Lily made her way down platform nine and three quarters. She simply nodded in response, her mind to jumbled up to come up with an adequate response.

…And it's not like she didn't want to tell her friends. In fact, she felt like she needed to tell them. She felt that if she spilled her guts they'd be able to convince her that this was how she was supposed to be feeling. That the reason she was such a paranoid, nervous wreck was because she had kissed her sworn enemy. Her extremely sweet sworn enemy. Her exceptionally good kissing sworn enemy.

Oh, Merlin. She had liked it, hadn't she?

She knew she had. From the moment she had kissed him on the cheek, she knew she would have enjoyed it. How could she have been so repulsed back in fourth year when she had to kiss him for that immature dare? _Ugh. Stop it! _Starting all of this had been a mistake. A huge mistake. _Whoa, calm down, Lily._ Just because she had found that little kiss to be preferable did not mean that she liked James. Did it? No, of course not. Yet, hadn't she already admitted that she fancied this new side of James? Hadn't she already said that if James had always acted the way he'd been acting for the past five months that she would have fallen for him? Did that mean she liked James Potter?

No, no, no. _He's acting, Evans. Just acting. It's not real. None of this is real. _

But that kiss had been very real.

_But his attitude isn't._

She waved her wand, causing her trunk to float a few inches up into the air and then land softly on the floor of the train. Taking a quick glance to either side of the Hogwarts' Express to see if she could catch a glimpse of any familiar heads, Lily hopped up onto the train. All she hoped was that she'd meet her friends before she came face to face with any of the Marauders.

Thankfully, fate was in her favor. Lugging their trunks onto the train a few carriages down—clearly they had forgotten they could use magic—Marlene and Dorcas were grumbling under their breath about "bloody heavy books".

"We," Lily said, approaching them, "need to talk."

"Lily, what—?"

But Lily hastily waved her wand once more, levitating the trunks of her friends' along with her own, grabbed both Marlene and Dorcas around their arms, and dragged them down the train in search for an empty compartment. Finally finding one, Lily dropped the three trunks hastily into the corner, pulled her friends inside, and shut the door firmly shut. Outside on the platform the conductor was calling everyone aboard.

Lily spun around, stared at both her friends in turn, and practically blurted, "I kissed James Potter."

Her friends didn't miss a beat. "You what?"

"Could've guessed it."

"You _what_?"

Lily waved her hands frantically, shushing them. For all she knew the Marauders could be right outside the door. "I know, I know."

There was a slight commotion outside in the train corridor. Lily's breath seemed to stop momentarily. _Please don't be James, please don't be James._ Almost agonizingly their compartment door pulled open to reveal Alice, pink in the face from the cold weather outside, her trunk floating serenely along beside her.

Lily's heart fluttered in a relieved sort of way. _Thank Godric._

"Hey, guys. What did I miss?" Alice asked, entering the compartment, smiling around at all of her friends after spending a few weeks apart. By the looks on her friends' faces, it was safe to say that she had definitely missed something important.

"Lily kissed James."

Alice's trunk dropped onto the floor with a bang that seemed to shake the train. That was enough of a big news for anyone to drop their ten pound trunk for, to be honest. "She _kissed_ James?" Alice turned from Dorcas and Marlene to Lily, her face incredulous. "_You_ kissed James?"

"She kissed James," Dorcas clarified.

"Merlin, you kissed James."

"Okay, that's enough," Lily said, slumping down onto the seat behind her and putting her hands up to her face for a brief moment. Dang, had they really needed to repeat it that many times? It was as if each time they said it, she relived the moment again. Liking it once was bad enough.

"You should have seen them at James's ball together, it was like they really were into each other—" Marlene continued, clearly unaware of the emotional dilemma Lily was in the middle of.

"Yes, thank you, Marlene," Lily mumbled, putting an end to the conversation and rubbing the temples of her forehead soothingly. Her friends shared glances.

Now that she had spilled the beans, Lily wasn't quite sure what else she should say. She half wished she could pick the beans back up and eat them, even though she had been dying to share them with her friends just ten minutes earlier. Why must her life be so utterly dramatic?

In a way that bothered Lily immensely, Dorcas began clucking her tongue impatiently. "Well?" Dorcas persisted, sitting down across from Lily with a bounce and clapping her hands together. Dorcas was evidently prompting Lily into speech; if she wasn't willing to elaborate, naturally her friends would lead her to her confession.

Lily watched Dorcas's facial expression go from excitement to eagerness; did she not see the problem with this? "Well what?" Lily asked impatiently.

"How was it?" Marlene practically blurted like she had been dying to ask the question for years, wiggling her eyebrows, which really creeped Lily out to be honest.

Her answer didn't form right away. If she said that James's kiss held something in it that she couldn't quite place, her friends would most definitely think that she was being swept up way too much into this whole dare/bet thing. However, if she lied and told them it had been the worst thing of her life…well, her blush would most definitely give her away.

"I don't know," she finally said, "I just don't know," Lily admitted, running a hand through her hair. She automatically stopped, for that one small gesture had reminded her of James, and it made her stomach erupt into butterflies, a feeling she had recently come to hate.

To avoid the looks her friends were surely giving her, Lily turned and looked out the window glumly, watching the city of London fade in the background as the train sped farther north. She knew that Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice were most likely communicating behind her back as they tried to come up with a way to fix this dilemma. Somewhere on the surface of her brain, Lily knew that she could always quit. But still—

"Look, Lily," Alice finally said, "obviously you're upset—"

"—more so than we thought you would be anyways," Marlene added.

"Well, we knew you'd be upset if he ever did kiss you, but we thought it would be more of a raving lunatic type of way," Dorcas clarified.

"Regardless," emphasized Alice, knowing that if they continued on the path they were Lily would most likely lose her temper. Oh, Alice, one could always count on her. "Lily, just stop doing the dare."

"No."

The word came out of her mouth before she had time to think about them. However, even if she had pondered the idea—which she actually had a lot this Christmas—the answer would still be no. She knew she couldn't quit, and she knew her friends thought so too. Lily was so far into this mess already, she couldn't just quit. It had become a sort of habit. Going back to normal—her normal where James Potter was nothing more than a last name to her—would be like quitting an addiction cold turkey. Things would just get more complicated. James would want to know why Lily randomly started disliking him again, Lily would have to fight her impulses to grab him and hug him, and she would most likely be bombarded by all of his friends who would thank her because they just won five galleons. Yeah, definitely not worth it.

She had a feeling her friends had known what she had just thought all along, so she didn't bother to explain her decision. They most likely had just wanted to give her the chance to back out, knowing perfectly well the Lily would never actually give up. Marlene nodded and her eyes focused on Lily.

"Well, then, now that that's settled," Marlene began matter of factly, a secretive smile on her face as Lily watched her look from Dorcas to Alice. Yep, they most definitely had spoken behind her back.

"It's quite obvious you shouldn't kiss him again," Alice stated simply. Lily rolled her eyes but nodded all the same. "And the way things are going, he's most likely to ask you out any day now, so you shouldn't have to hold him off too much longer…"

Lily pondered this. That was true. But she still didn't know where they were going with this.

"Lily, it's time for phase five," Dorcas said. Marlene and Alice nodded enthusiastically in the background.

Catching on to what her friends had in mind, Lily's eyes widened. "Oh no," she said, becoming oddly light headed at the thought of James and the quickly approaching phase five.

"Oh yes."

OO

It was just another phase, Lily constantly reminded herself, as she walked towards the bathroom on the Hogwarts' Express. Just like old times really. Here she was, another phase needing to be put into action in order to bring the boy she disliked most down. Being given another phase for her dare had acted oddly like a stimulant, as did her frantically beating heart. It was as if she had been presented with two choices: push her feelings for this 'faux' James to the back of her mind, or use them to help her dare appear more real. Lily chose to use them, just as James was mostly likely using his. For she knew deep down that everything James did was just an act in this complicated play they were in.

And she wouldn't let herself think otherwise. Not again.

Of course, it was probably much easier to convince herself of this while in the bathroom with some random second year Ravenclaw then if she had been in James's presence. While lathering the soap suds in her hands, Lily looked into the mirror and stared at her appearance. Her face stared back at her, her green eyes determined. She was strong, and she could do this.

What was this anticipated phase exactly?

To make James Potter crave her kisses.

It even sounded odd in her own screwed up mind, but it was perfect. She would keep him where she wanted him, leading him on, allowing him to think he'd won his bet, but she wouldn't have to kiss him. Playing hard to get, in a matter of speaking, was the key. She'd been doing that already for a while now, so really, how hard could it possibly be?

With that, she stepped out of the safe confinement of the bathroom and into a possible Marauder war zone.

"Lily!"

Before she had time to wrap her head around anything, someone had swooped down upon her and kissed her on the cheek, causing her back to tingle pleasantly.

Her breath caught in her throat. "James."

He held her by the waist as he scanned her face with his hazel eyes, as if he hadn't seen her in forever and was savoring the moment. "I've been looking for you," he said earnestly.

Lily grinned involuntarily at his sweetness. Her previous thoughts from the bathroom began melting away, like her cauldron had in second year when her potion had gone horribly wrong—hey, hadn't James been her partner? Oh, James, kind James, charming James—_Pull yourself together, woman! _A hand slapped Lily around the brain mentally, and she could have sworn that the hand she saw in her mind was wearing Marlene's pink nail polish.

"Really?" she asked, unwrapping herself from his arms, "now why would that be?" She grinned at him.

James smiled back, stepping closer towards her again, but Lily side-stepped him, flipping her long, red hair over her shoulder. "So, you missed me?" she asked him, brushing her hand up against his purposefully as she flaunted away.

Sensing the game she was playing, James strolled off after her, looking at her sideways. "You could say that."

They both began laughing for apparently no reason at all—well, Lily hadn't really seen what was so funny yet—as they set off down the train corridor. That was a good question actually; why _was _she laughing? It took about ten seconds for Lily to realize that her heart wasn't pounding so sporadically any longer. Actually, now that she thought about it, she felt…calm. She glanced at James only to find that he had been watching her. They both grinned.

"So," Lily began, "where're the famous Marauders sitting?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I need to know the area to avoid."

Lily stopped a few inches away from the compartment where her friends were sitting; she didn't want them watching her and James's flirtations, or whatever they were. "What, are you afraid of us now?" James asked, hands in his pockets as he grinned.

"Well, I don't want my hair to turn green, or something weird like that," Lily responded, grinning because he was. It was so infectious. "This is my compartment."

He took half a step closer and leaned his head closer down towards hers; Lily craved to take a full step towards him as well, but she resisted it.

"Don't drink the juice at dinner, then," he said seriously. And with that he stood back up straight and backed away with a wink.

"W-what?" Lily stammered, taken aback.

"Sit with us at the feast?" he asked, smirking.

"James Potter, come back here!"

With a happy wave, James said, "Bye, Lily!"

Her chest heaving because of her recently heavy breathing, Lily watched his back disappear down the train corridor. _What _had just happened? He thought he could just tell her something like that and walk away? If he and his Marauders had planned something…

Well, at least it had taken her mind off of kissing him.

And to be on the safe side, maybe she wouldn't drink the pumpkin juice tonight.

OOO

"Pumpkin juice, Evans?"

Yeah right, like she would take anything that Sirius Black was offering her, even if she hadn't already been told not to drink it. She shook her head and glared at all four of them slightly. The Hogwarts' Express had dropped them off an hour earlier in Hogsmeade and they'd taken the regular horseless carriage to the school. Suspiciously, Sirius and Peter had disappeared for fifteen minutes and had returned to the Great Hall fifteen minutes into the feast.

Odd much?

Well, it would be more so if the Marauders hadn't been doing this type of behavior since first year.

Whatever.

She took out her wand and pointed it into her goblet which instantly filled with clean, fresh water. "What are you guys doing?" Lily asked, looking around the Great Hall for anything suspicious as she took a sip.

"Eating," James answered, putting his arm around her shoulders. Sirius rolled his eyes.

Lily pursed her lips and looked around at her friends, who merely shrugged and pushed their goblets of pumpkin juice further away from them. "Look, don't worry, Lily, our pumpkin juice is potion-free," James reassured.

"Prongs!" Remus and Sirius said harshly.

"Potion?" Lily exclaimed.

"Ours aren't contaminated?" Dorcas asked. "Why didn't you tell us?" She poured herself a fresh glass and began drinking.

"Potion, James?" Lily repeated.

Sirius shook his head in a pitying way at his friend while Remus looked away pointedly, cutting up his chicken. Peter didn't quite know what to do, so he stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth. James looked at her, with something close to a guilty expression, just as a small commotion started at the Slytherin table. In fact, it was so small that the only reason Lily saw it was because she had been expecting something. Well, and the fact that the Slytherin table was situated right across from theirs.

Two Slytherins, Avery and Mulciber, were attempting to control Snape, who seemed to be in a heated discussion with his two friends. Because of the noisy chatter, Lily couldn't hear what was going on, but it had to be something big. She looked at the Marauders who had also caught the disorder amongst the Slytherins.

"Snape, Padfoot?" James hissed, glaring at his friend.

"Padfoot, you idiot, Prongs told you to do Avery," Remus said.

Now, Mulciber really was restraining Snape, his arms holding Snape under his armpits. Avery was watching in disgust, his wand out and pointing at his struggling friend. Then, with a bang, Mulciber fell backwards off the bench and sufficiently released Snape, who marched around the Slytherin table and headed straight for Gryffindor's.

At the same moment that Snape reached the head of Gryffindor's table, James took Lily's hand. "Lily, let's go on a walk," he said, trying to pull her up from the bench they were sitting on.

"This is your doing, isn't it?" she demanded.

"Lily, seriously, let's—"

"Lily!"

James recoiled in his seat, as if he wanted to turn invisible. Snape had finally reached his destination, which was right behind Lily. Sirius and Peter were chuckling to themselves. Remus was looking from Snape to Lily with a horrid expression on his face.

"Lily," Snape said, taking Lily by the back of her robes and turning her in her seat so she was facing him. By the looks of things, the only people who had noticed that something odd was occuring were the few Gryffindors seated around them, and the Slytherins who had been in the struggle to hold down Severus.

To her left, James was glaring at Sirius, and to her right, Alice was shifting uncomfortably. She looked at her old friend; he looked oddly timid. "What?" she asked him, shrugging his hand off of her.

The Death Eater in training reached a hand up to his head and smoothed down his hair. His eyes were strangely glazed over; what had the Marauders done to him? "I—Lily—I just wanted you to know—"

James had grabbed her wrist again. "I'm tired, are you tired? Let's go."

"_You_," Snape said, pointing his wand in between James's eyes, "stay away from her."

Okay, seriously, what was going on? This was so incredibly abnormal. Oh, Merlin, the Marauders had given Snape an Essence of Personality Change, hadn't they? That was so not funny.

"Look, you're obviously not right," Lily directed to Snape, turning to glare at the Marauders as she spoke. She stood up. "Let's go to the Hospital Wing."

"No, I don't need that place," Snape spat, "Lily, I think—I think I love you."

No one moved. Mulciber and Avery were muttering "Filthy Mudblood" underneath their breaths. Sirius shook with glee; Peter looked like he was about to pee his pants. Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice had frozen, their eyes flickering from the redhead to the greasy black haired guy. James shifted uncomfortably and Remus got up and ran up to the staff table.

"Y-you what?"

"I just can't get you out of my head," he said desperately.

Lily's heart was pounding crazily again. She whipped around to face James, turning her back on Snape who was currently trying to touch her hair. "You _gave_ him a love potion," she hissed.

"Don't be mad at me" Snape began pleading over and over again, "I'm sorry, Lily, I'm sorry for everything," Snape said, reaching for her petite hands. Childhood memories began flooding her thoughts as one of Snape's long, bony fingers touching the skin of her hand.

And then Lily lost it. Her eyes filled with tears and everything around her became blurred and she could no longer distinguish whose hands were grabbing her where. And then Professor Slughorn was there, leading a stunned Severus out of the Great Hall—now all the students were watching—and then Marlene was clutching her shoulder while Dorcas was leading her from the table. Remus was whacking Sirius upside the head, and suddenly James was at her side.

"Lily, I really, _really—_"

His voice pulled her out of her despair. "Shove off, James, now is not the—"

"How could you do that?" Lily cried, interrupting her friends and furiously wiping her eyes. "No, you know what, don't bother to explain. I'll see you guys later tonight."

Seriously, what had those bloody Marauders been thinking? It was all their fault. They had gotten the potion, and the only way that the potion would have affected Snape in that way was if they had made it so whoever had drank it would immediately think of Lily. And James had known, had known that she and Snape had been friends, had known they had a falling out. How could he have done that?

"Lily, seriously, wait."

"Wait for what, James?" she practically screamed.

"That's not how it was supposed to turn out," James explained, stopping a foot from her.

"What? You weren't supposed to have tweaked the potion to make it appeal to me? You weren't supposed to give it to Snape? Merlin only knows how you got the potion in the first place—"

"It's been in stock," James said quietly, shrugging.

Lily gave him a disgusted look. Someone's true colors can't be hidden forever. Stupid, stupid, stupid. And to think she had thought she'd actually fallen for him. Ridiculous. And now Snape had apologized to her and had walked away from his evil friends—a thing she'd always hoped he would have—but he was under the influence of a most likely smuggled love potion.

"You are so—just leave, James."

James grabbed her elbow. "Lily, the potion was meant to be give to Avery—"

"—Oh, because that would have been better. Avery declaring his love for me—"

"—who was supposed to fall for Mulciber."

"You are so—_What_?"

"Sirius and Peter had been in charge of giving it to the house-elves."

Lily crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Whatever, James."

"I'm telling the truth!"

Well, she could believe that Sirius would try to sabotage her. That made sense. And James had seemed truly angry with his friend, as did Remus. But that could have been the plan. James could have given Sirius the dirty job to do, knowing perfectly he would sabotage it, and then he could comfort Lily and win the bet. Argh, this was so idiotic. How'd they given it to the house-elves anyway. They worked in the kitchens. The Marauders probably had their own sick ways of doing it.

"So the house-elves just magically knew where Snape would be sitting at dinner?"

James shifted uncomfortably again. "Well, about that…"

She sighed. "Just tell me."

"Snape always sits directly across from you."

He does? Ugh, that really didn't matter, not now. "So you made sure to sit me in the seat at the Gryffindor table that was the equivalent to where the house-elves were going to place the love potion on the Slytherin table?"

Looking anxious and apologetic, James muttered, "In a matter of speaking, except the potion was meant to be one seat down, where Avery would sit."

Yeah right. He had known. He had known Sirius would change it to Snape. Thus, he knew that the potion would be sipped by Snape, who would declare his love for Lily, because Sirius had changed it to do so. Bottom line, James didn't care about her. He didn't mind seeing her get hurt, as long as he could fix it and win the bet.

"I don't believe you."

He gaped at her. "I'm being honest!"

Yeah, so she would have thought if she hadn't known about the bet. "I'm out of here," she stated.

"Wait."

Why was she stopping? She should have just kept walking. James took her halt as a sign that she was willing to listening. "I'll prove to you I'm honest," he said.

She turned on her heel to observe him. His hand was wrapped in his messy hair and he was watching her sturdily. He looked disgruntled. Something welled up inside of her; Godric, she was feeling sorry for him. Why hadn't she just left him there and went up to her dorm?

"How?" she asked, and it scared her to hear her voice come out so softly when she had intended it to come out horribly harsh.

A small smile flickered onto his face. There was hope, at least. "Meet me in the common room tonight, at eleven."

Staring at him, she weighed her options. A very large part of her wanted to go with him. But if she did, what would it lead to? She had finally decided that she wasn't going to fall for his act again, but would his plan of showing his honesty confuse her...again? And there was always the high chance that whatever he was preparing to do could lead to trouble…with the teachers. Okay, she'd made up her mind.

"Fine. Okay."

* * *

_Ohhh some juicy stuff in that chapter. Rember back in like chapter six when Remus accused James of feeding Lily love potion and Peter said they were saving it for something else? Well, now you know what they were saving it for. Bwahaha, I felt smart for remember that little detail. Alright, not that smart, but I thought it was pretty cool how it worked out. Wow, I'm weird. That's what I get for only getting six hours of sleep last night. _

_Anywayyysss...I hope you liked this chapter! I thought it was better than the last one at least, but that's just me. Again, Trelawney would like it if you reviewed...and so would I. :) Have a great week! (Oh yay, school...woohoo...sarcasm)_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: **_Dumbledore is gay!?!? What?! If I were J.K. Rowling, I think I wouldn't be so surprised by that piece of information. Totally didn't see that one coming!_

**A/N:** _Tehehehe (that's me giggling excitedly after reading your reviews). Thank you so much to: Jedi Knight Revan, Etar, Mrs Claire Potter, Emma Knightley, Luminous Star, tashville007, mini-cactus, Missvee, Cristipotter, Cristipotter, pigs can fly, TwinkieTUTUS, LyLMystiKeLf, Red n Black Roses, chili's-girl, Sprut, Ace-reporter, silly sarahhh, Mouse and Stupid Productions, Jessiquie, stardust718, serenity12345, CaramelBoost, overboard on exclamation marks, Woot!, and Literati and naley forever. I wonder how many times I've thanked you all, but no matter the number, it probably hasn't been enough. For you guys rock so incredibly hard that it amazes me! So, thank you!_

_And look at that! I'm actually keeping up on the updating every two weeks thing that's been going on. Weeeee! This chapter is shorter than usual (GASP! Only seven pages!), but I felt like if I didn't leave it where it was and kept going it would be way too much and drawn out. So, unfortunately, this chapter is just a lead up to the actual plan that James's has of proving his honesty (Aw, how sweet!), so the good, juicy stuff will come later. Sorry folks! But I hope you all enjoy this chapter anyways. Oh, and I should mention that I'm thinking there's only a few chapters left of this story. Maybe five. Or six. Or seven. Alright, so I don't really know how much longer, but it's not going to be like...ten chapters longer. Goodness me, that would be a doozy! (I don't even know if that's a word!)_

_Yay! So, let's get reading! Have fun!_

* * *

**Chapter 15: A Lesson in Irony**

She had a small desire to go check on Severus in the hospital wing, where it had been rumored that it had taken three teachers and Hagrid to hold Snape down while Professor Slughorn poured the medical potion down his throat. Somehow, Lily thought the rumors had probably escalated the real events which were probably a lot more dull and uneventful. Nevertheless, her feeling of needing to see him dwindled as she wondered what words they could possibly exchange. He had chosen his own path, she had chosen hers, and they just so happened to differ…in a major way. Surprisingly, it hadn't been that hard to come to terms with; she was used to it by now. However, Lily was usually pretty good at forgiving people, but with this particular situation it would take a lot for Snape to redeem himself. In her old mid-teens fantasies it had involved him risking his life to save someone on the correct side—aka, the Voldemort fighters—of this war.

And besides, she had more important things to do tonight.

As the short hour hand on the clock inched closer towards eleven, the variety of people relaxing in the Gryffindor common room began to filter out. Since tomorrow would be the first day back at lessons since Christmas holidays, students had begun heading up to their dorms at ten, would probably chat until around eleven, and then would most likely fall asleep to insure a good seven hours or so of rest before early-morning classes. After the Quidditch discussions had ended and the gossiping girls had retired to their beds, Lily had found herself quite alone in an abnormally quiet common room.

The fire crackled warmly and Lily stared into it, hugging her knees to her chest. Her emerald eyes were focused on the flames, but she wasn't really _seeing_ them. With a hint of extreme realization—which made her feel rather bright—she vaguely realized that it was the other way around with James Potter. She had always seen him, yet had never really focused on his intentions. Was that wrong? Was she doing it all over again now? After that retched dare in fourth year, he had occasionally asked her out; Lily always thought he did it purely to annoy her because, after all, he had said that the kiss had been the worst in his life. But what if he had really liked her? Then she had been a heartbreaking prat. What if he still did? Then she was royally screwed. And why the heck was she even bothering to think about him at all?

_He doesn't like me,_ she scoffed, _he's in it for the gold, not my heart._

Despite her attempts to shove Potter out of her mind, her thoughts suddenly launched an epiphany. A light bulb seemed to explode over her head, casting an illuminating glow that the fire, oddly enough, couldn't.

James Potter _could_ like her; she had thought she felt something at the New Year's party. If he did, that led to one horrifying question that Lily really wished she didn't have to ponder. This was her epiphany: had she seen the bet as she had wanted to perceive it? Or rather, had her negative thoughts about everything she thought James Potter was—rude, arrogant, a bully—distorted an innocent bet into something grander? It was possible that she had manifested the bet with all of her pessimistic thoughts because that was what she had expected James to do; to use her in his arrogance to win gold. Oh, holy Merlin. If that was all true—did she want it to be true?—that meant that she had created this whole mess herself. Potter had nothing to do with it. Shoot. She'd never thought of it like that before.

Her chest pounded painfully as she bit her lip, hugging her legs harder and closer as if for protection. Her mind continued to spiral deeper and deeper into a terrifying abyss. What if there hadn't been a bet at all? Maybe this whole thing had been thrown out of proportion…by her! How incredibly stupid it would be if it turned out that she had made this all up? Not only would she have screwed with Potter's mind, but she would have irreversibly messed up her own—

No, she did _not _like James Potter. A small voice in the back of her mind wondered, if that were true, why she had to keep reminding herself that she actually hated him. _Denial, denial, denial. _

No, not denial. The truth. It couldn't be denial because she simply had fallen for the person he was pretending to be, not the real him, right? Right. But if the bet had never existed—

—But it had. She had heard it! There was no way she could have dreamed it, otherwise these past three months would have all been happening inside her head. She felt like her thoughts were going around and around in a circle. No, the bet was real. Reality could not be all a dream. _Don't think so absurdly, Lily. _She had pure concrete proof. Bloody James Potter was screwing with her mind. There _had_ been a bet, she _had_ heard it, and he most definitely wanted the money more than her. She was nothing but a pawn.

That was that. No more doubts; no further questions. All systems closed. Circles did have an ending, and she had found it.

Or so she hoped.

Sparks flew up the chimney and Lily watched the burning logs dwindle into ash as the minutes passed. Against her better judgment, her mind irreversibly traveled back to the spawn of evil, the devilishly good Quidditch player, the epitome of a girl's fantasy, as she began to wonder what it would have been like if she hadn't found out about the bet. Would she have believed his change of maturity level, or would she had scoffed at him, blown him off, declined him like she'd done for the past three years? Hopefully she would have been a good enough of person to give him a chance, to see the real him, and to fall for him without a hope of climbing back up.

_Get a grip on yourself, Lily, it wouldn't have mattered._

The sad truth was, it wouldn't have been "the honest him" and she would have ended up with her heart broken once he dumped her after Sirius coughed up the five galleons.

How sad, and incredibly ironic, that it seemed she was heading down that path anyways. Except, she was going to be the one doing the dumping.

She glanced at her wrist watch; it was five minutes until eleven. _Where was he? _He had wanted to prove his honesty to her, and yet he was on the verge of showing up late. Again, how _ironic_ would it be if he never turned up? She snorted softly. Well, there went his chances of ever proving his loyalty and truthfulness, no matter how _untrue _his honesty that he planned to prove to her probably was.

She had to re-think that last thought twice. Wow, she could practically feel the wheels in her brain turning to understand that one.

However, she hoped he'd show up. She sighed, resting her chin, once again, on her propped up knees. Her agreement of meeting him wasn't part of her dare because this was something Lily needed for herself, and therefore this secret meeting would remain confidential between her and James. Her friends didn't even know about this one. She needed a clarification, a little glimpse of a fault in this new James, which would completely and utterly turn her off from him.

Funny, really. He used to ask her out, she had rejected him. He had made a bet to win her over, she had found out and hated him more for it. Her friends had dared her to break his heart, she began to think she was falling for him.

How ironic—_Don't say that word, Lily, just don't say it. _

"Lily?"

She jumped, her chin hitting her knees painfully, as James Potter literally seemed to appear out of nowhere. See? There was something devilish about him. Okay, so maybe it was some type of paranormal force, not really pure evil.

Rubbing her throbbing chin, oddly enough, reminded her that she was supposed to be angry with him. And she was, really, honest! "Where did you come from?" she asked bluntly, cleverly getting the point across that, yes, she was still not on good terms with him.

His hazel eyes swept around the empty common room, before they landed on her figure, arms crossed. His forefinger beckoned her and he merely uttered two quick words. "Come here."

Her eyebrows shot up her forehead. Did he think he was honestly going to win her obedience over that quickly? She scoffed at the idea, giving him a pointed look to reveal her private thoughts. "Why?"

"Just come here."

"I'm not coming anywhere near you until you give me a reason why."

"Dear Merlin, Lily, just get over here."

Their current bickering would probably seem pointless to any eavesdroppers, perhaps even humorous. People would probably even be wondering whether the two head students were being serious with their fight of it it was all for fun, that's how immature Lily knew this conversation was. But she was determined to hold her ground, because it was all James Potter's fault that her mind kept going in circles as it tried to answer the question of whether she liked or disliked the boy in front of her.

"If this is your way to show me how honest--" she air-quoted the word--"you can be—by not telling me what's happening—then you are sadly mistaken," she said.

Huffing out of irritation, James ruffled his hair impatiently. He crossed his muscular arms over his broad chest and observed Lily for a few seconds. "I really don't understand you," he said shortly.

_Well, that makes two of us. _Of course, she didn't say that out loud. So, instead, Lily shrugged cockily, hands on her hips. "Yeah, well—" She really wanted to throw something in like, 'too bad for you,' but she just couldn't bring herself to be that rude. She did have her standards. But her comeback had ended up sounding pathetically weak. Blast it.

After a few more seconds, in which they both contemplated each other, James broke the silence subtly by reaching into his bag and pulling out a silver robe. It caught her attention, and he took notice to the fact that it had. He held it up without saying anything for Lily to observe, as if offering up his belongings to show that he really was safe to approach. Her eyes flickered from the robe, to the boy, and back again.

James, apparently, thought that her confused eye flickers were a good sign. "Now will you trust me and come here?" he asked.

Was that his attempt of acting with chivalry? Lily wondered sarcastically. What a nerd. "I don't need your robes; the temperature is very comfortable in here at the moment, thank you," she said curtly. What in the world did his cloak, and the chilly air temperature, have to do with anything?

A pang of annoyance swept through Lily as James rolled his eyes. It was as if he was mocking her for her ignorance, like he knew something she didn't. _Arghhhh_. "This," he began with a superior chuckle, indicating the silvery cloth, "has more uses than just warming someone up."

With that, he threw the cloak over himself. Lily gasped, her anger and annoyance forgotten for the time being. James, the very solid and real person who she had just been arguing with, had disappeared. Poof! Gone! Ahh, paranormal forces were back again! She gasped again—this time in surprised fright—as something, or someone, tapped her on the back. Spinning around she found James's disembodied head floating behind her.

_Okay, calm down, there has to be a rational explanation for this._

"How in the name of Merlin's socks did you get an Invisibility Cloak?" she finally asked him incredulously, her lowered jaw snapping back up to its normal position for speech. Nonetheless, she was rather creeped out by this talking head, even though she saw ghosts, poltergeists, and other variety of magical things every day of her life.

"Father to son inheritance," he answered, unwrapping the cloak from his shoulders so his whole body—thank Godric—reappeared. "It's been in my family for years."

She touched the edge of the cloth hesitantly, as if she were touching something very delicate and old, which was a very good possibility if it had been in his family for generations. "Odd," she started, gazing at it, "most Invisibility Cloaks tend to lose their concealment charms as the years go on…"

James shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, I dunno, my great-great-great-great grandfather or something must have done something to it…Anyways, that's beside the point." He threw the cloak back over his head and shoulders and propped it open like a tent, apparently waiting for her to join him underneath it.

There was no way on her life that she was getting underneath that cramped spot with him. Too many risks. To give herself some more time to think about this sticky situation, she immediatly began questioning his intentions. "This is how you plan on proving your honesty? By showing me how you sneak about the castle?" she asked suspiciously. Ha, she hoped he'd realize the irony in it all. Jeez, what was with that word at the moment?

"No," he said dumbly, drawing out the syllable, "but we need _this_ to get where we're going."

The situation that she could potentially, and was about to, get herself into had a flashing warning sign painted all over it; however, he had said it so simply, so innocently, that Lily couldn't possbily question him any further. She looked up into his face. He was watching her steadily, a small, inviting smile upon his handsome face. Something about his appearance put her at ease. Darn him and his soothing antics!

"Where are we going, exactly?"

"Just trust me, okay?"

Wow, what a big thing to ask of her at a time when he was supposed to be proving to her that he was trustworthy. Yet, for some reason she didn't think of the irony—what was that? Like the fifth time that word had come up?—of the question and, strangely enough, she stepped forward and stood at his side. The silvery material floated down around her, covering the both of them. A slight breeze at her ankles told her that her feet weren't hidden.

Apparently, James noticed the same thing. "You're going to have to come closer," he told her. Yep, somehow she had known it would come to this. _This_ had probably been all part of his evil little plan. Before she could protest, he had grabbed her wrist and pulled her right up against his left hip. Perhaps he had known that if he had hesitated, she would have argued against their current arrangement. Her shoulders rubbed against his uncomfortably, and his arm innocently slid around her waist to secure her. Oh, jeez, what had she gotten herself into?

Trying to pull her mind away from this rather awkward situation, Lily got her breathing back to normal, and asked, "What if we get caught?"

It was only a split second after she had asked it that she realized how ridiculous of a question it was. They were invisible for Pete's sake! Her nerves really were getting the better of her. "Oh, right…" she mumbled rather sheepishly.

"And besides," James said, stuffing his free hand into his pocket and pulling out, what looked liked, a folded up and quite weathered piece of parchment, "I have a back up."

She watched curiously as he pointed his wand at the parchment and mumbled something incoherently under his breath. Deciding that maybe this wasn't such a good idea, she opened her mouth to demand exactly how a uselessly blank piece of paper could possibly help them escape McGonagall. But then, before she even had the chance of getting an unidentifiable gurgle out of her throat, lines began to stretch across the paper which formed into words and outlines of what looked like buildings. Huh? Had she missed something?

James shot a prideful look at her before returning his attention back to the map. Yeah, that was right. That 'uselessly blank piece of paper' was actually a map of what looked like all the nook and crannies of Hogwarts. "But—how did that—what?" Lily spluttered, apparently too surprised for words, because she had just noticed two dots labeled 'Lily Evans' and 'James Potter' positioned exactly where the real-life Lily and James stood.

"McGonagall's in her sleeping quarters," James said quietly, tracing the map with his fingers and purposefully ignoring Lily's fragmented questions, "and Filch is in his office. Our way is clear."

Lily's mind was practically exploding into a million bazillion pieces. "Are you even going to bother to explain?"

He laughed quietly. "Marauders' secret," he answered, "can't."

"You know, you really haven't started off so well. First you show me a cloak that _un-honestly_—" she put emphasis on the last word—"helps you sneak around Hogwarts. Then you show me this map of our _entire_ school that most likely helps you, very _untruthfully_, spy on people's whereabouts."

"And regardless all of that, you still haven't left me to go back up to your dorm," he pointed out, smirking at her and giving her a very pointed look.

Lily shut her mouth.

And thus, James led the two of them through the portrait hole and out into a deserted, dark, castle, on their way to—to what exactly? She didn't know; he wouldn't tell her. Psh, some honesty. His arm gripped her hip closer as the blackness of the empty hallway pressed down upon them. Her spine tingled with pleasure, or repulsion, but she had a pretty good idea of which adjective she knew it was and which she desperately wanted it to be.

And the wheels started turning in her head again.

_I hate him. _His breath tickled her neck. _I hate him_. His fingers started tapping against her waist in a very pleasing rhythm. _I hate him. _He smiled nervously at her. _I hate—Oh, screw it._

Why the heck had she agreed to this again?

* * *

_Ohhh poor Lily. Although, I don't know why she's complaining. Being under a steamy cloak with a hot guy kind of seems like fun to me. lol. Anyways, thanks for reading! Next chapter will include a much anticipated second kiss and will reveal how James's did exactly win over Lily's trust. Oh yay (claps hands happily). Wow, okay it's time for me to go to bed. _

_Goodnight everyone! Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite! (The disturbing thing is that I've actually had bed bugs before...shudderrrrr.) It would make me smile if you reviewed:)_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** _Psh, I took my SATs on Saturday (for the third time), I'm still in school, I don't have a job. So there's no way I can claim to own Harry Potter._

**A/N:** _(Does a little happy dance) You guys make my day! Thank you a bijillion, million, billion, kazillion, times to: books4evah, silly sarahhh, Sunblood, Sunblood, LilyJamesLuver25, sarcasticrules, Lalena Apikaila, it rocks my socks, Sprut, chels, pigs can fly, CaramelBoost, chili's-girl, Mouse and Stupid Productions, coffee dessert, stinkabhel, wamen ninja, U ENVI ME, Goldenfeather, darla ladylondon, xLzM, Petroleumjellydotone, TwinkieTUTUS, C San, emeraldeye, Cristipotter, LyLMystiKeLf, serenity12345, Jessiquie, Etar, Mrs Claire Potter, stardust718, and StarzAngelus. Also, thank you to anyone who added me to alerts or their favorite lists. That means a lot:)_

_Well, another two weeks has passed, so I suppose it's time for the next chapter. Tehehe, the plot is starting to unravel! I love it! I'm so surprised that no one has figured out anything about James's and Sirius's bet...oopss, did I just give something away? lol I love being the author and knowing all of my little plot ideas. _

_Ohhh guys! This is my longest chapter yet! Twelve whole pages! That should make up for last week's embarrassingly short filler chapter. I hate just putting in a filler chapter like that, but it was somewhat necessary. Also, if I hadn't and put the last chapter with the chapter it would've been over 18 pages! And that would have been CRAZZYYY to read. _

_Anyways, enjoy the chapter! Have fun!_

* * *

**Chapter 16: Abort Phase Five: _She_ Craves _His_ Kisses **

Oh, she was going to get in so much trouble for this. Walking around in the dark under an Invisibility Cloak, with _James Potter_ nonetheless, was like a gateway to the Headmaster's office. Five minutes into their little escapade and they'd already walked _through_ Nearly Headless Nick (who had been rounding a corner the exact same time they had), Peeves had drifted over their invisible heads singing crude songs for a full corridor, and Lily could have sworn that McGonagall had heard her gasp as James had pulled them behind a suit of armor to avoid a disturbance. Already this was turning out to be one of the most risky, and highly _untrustworthy_, nights of her seven years at Hogwarts.

"Honestly, James, are we almost—"

"—There?" he finished her sentence, grinning cheekily at her. Lily rolled her eyes. "If my good old map—" he shook the thick parchment affectionately—"hasn't led us astray, which I highly doubt it has, then yes, we're almost there with a clear way ahead of us as well."

"A clear way? That's what you said right before McGonagall almost tripped over our ghostly feet," she responded, allowing his arm around her waist to guide her around a sharp corner and through a hidden passageway behind a tapestry that she'd never been down before.

"Now, in my defense, I would like to point out that there is no way I could have known McGonagall would be visiting Flitwick in his office at this time of night," James said defiantly but grinning all the same. Lily watched as he seemed to shudder slightly. "In fact," he began, "that is not something I ever need to know."

Lily pulled a face; she would have shoved him away from her if they weren't currently sharing a cloak. "You're sick."

His hand applied a stronger force on her hip, shoving her momentarily up against him. "And you love it," he replied huskily.

She chanced a glance at him; he was smirking in an obnoxiously cute flirtatious way. Her heart jumped a few beats. Darn him. "I'm supposed to be mad at you."

For a split second, his smile faltered and he frowned slightly. A small crinkle between his brows formed, causing Lily to feel oddly guilty. Had what she said affected him that much? "Well, I guess I'm about to change that, aren't I?"

His tone of voice was what caught her attention. It was so serious, worried even; it was so _not_ James. What had gotten his wand in a knot? However, her time to dwell on this mysterious behavior was cut short as their tapestry-short cut deposited the two of them into a very familiar place. Lily's mind began to turn, wondering why in the world they were here of all places in Hogwarts. They now stood in the front hallway of the school.

Towards the left were the large oak doors that led out of the castle, in front of them was the Great Hall—dark and empty—and to the right was a small set of stairs that the Ravenclaws always ascended after meals. Assuming that they were to go right, because that was the only logical place left to go (unless James had gotten the times mixed up and thought dinner was still occurring), Lily turned. She had only made it half a step when James pulled her back.

"Where are you going? I'm the leader here," he said jokingly; at least his atypical seriousness had seemed to disappear. She liked him better when he was laid back. It kind of scared her when he wasn't.

"Where are _you_ going?" she countered.

As if giving an adequate response, James spun her around in the opposite direction and began pulling her towards the front doors. He must be joking…What in the name of Merlin… "No way," Lily stated abruptly, dragging her heals into the ground to resist James's lead, "No way," she repeated as she shook her head frantically from side to side.

"It's perfectly safe, Lily," James tried to reassure. Alright, so she did like him laid back, but not _this_ much.

Lily scoffed. Perfectly safe? Yeah right. The only places out in the grounds were the Gamekeeper's hut, the Quidditch pitch, the greenhouses, and the forbidden forest. From the list, Lily could easily eliminate the two that James would not be heading towards, the Greenhouses (because neither James nor she had entered them since O.W.L. year) and Hagrid's hut (because what did Hagrid have to do with any of this anyways?). So, logically, that left the Quidditch pitch, which _was_ likely seeing that it was an obsession of his, and the Forbidden Forest, which Lily didn't doubt he'd been in before.

Well, she also supposed you could count Hogsmeade into the list, but there was no way in Merlin's oversized boot that she would allow him to take her into that town without permission. That was pushing it, though all of this was pushing the boundaries anyways.

"Look," Lily started sensibly, keeping her calm, "I agreed to wander around the castle with you, but I did not agree to meander about _outside_ the castle under any circumstances." The grounds? Honestly, that was just the most preposterous thing she'd ever heard. It was nearing midnight! Who knew what teachers were suffering from insomnia and were currently awake gazing out a window into the grounds. _But you're invisible. _Who cares, it's the thought that counts!

Of course, James, the all time famous Marauder, didn't see anything unmoral about entering the grounds, invisible or not. "It's all part of the plan—"

"—Yeah, the plan to get me expelled," Lily hissed back. Maybe acting serious was better for him, really. "Look, how about I just agree to believe that you had nothing to do with dinner tonight, and we'll just skip this little outdoor rendezvous."

He frowned at her. That stupid wrinkle in his forehead returned—why did that cause her to pity him so much? How dare he use that to break down her defenses. Psh, she was not giving in. "I've got to do this, Evans," he said quietly, almost as if he were talking to himself.

Evans? How odd, she thought they had gotten over the habit months ago. Old habits die hard? Or had it been a slip of a tongue? A sort of "I really don't like you, I'm just pretending, so it's not my fault if I accidentally undermine you by referring back to your last name" thing. This was all getting very suspicious, not that it hadn't started off mysterious or anything. She watched him closely, attempting to make out his face by the dim light of her lit wand.

"Do what?" she asked for clarification. Darn him and his seriousness. Her defenses were crumbling. _Don't, don't don't._

"Please, Lily."

Oh Godric, he'd broken her. What was with him? Did he want to call her by her last name or first? He should just make up his mind already! All of this change in behavior was killing her…literally because she might very well die if her defenses fell and she did step outside into the grounds. _No, don't give in. Be strong._

Before she could gather her fallen pieces of her self-resistance and respond negatively to his plead, his eyes sought out her own in the dark. So strong was his gaze that she knew he was looking at her before she had even looked up at his face. Dear Merlin, why'd he have to have such hypnotizing eyes? Shouldn't she have learned her lesson by now that his hazel-ness caused her to do irrational things? She tried to remember about the dare and the bet and her phases, but she realized it was becoming increasingly difficult.

Well, this stunk.

"Come on," he urged her again.

Wasn't she supposed to be angry with him? She had been for a while, but she still _should_ be. Darn it, she should be angry! Why wasn't she angry? Because this felt right; being with him, trusting him, having him be with her just seemed to fit. She shut her eyes briefly breaking their contact, not believing what she was about to do. With a long sigh, she snapped her eyes open again.

_Oh, God, help me._

"Go."

Almost instantaneously, James nodded and took his hand from her waist leaving it strangely cold. For a brief second Lily thought that he'd misinterpreted her one word command as a 'get lost' type of meaning. However, as she opened her mouth to explain that that was _not_ what she had meant, he simply reached down and grabbed her hand instead. A small smile forced itself across Lily's face, before she desperately swiped it off.

_Argh, don't lose yourself, woman!_

_I already have._

As they approached the extremely thick, heavy doors James pulled out his wand. Lily looked up at the seemingly impenetrable frames. They were like giant bodyguards that were waiting to stop non-ID'd personnel from getting into the hot club beyond their thick bodies. Call her crazy, but these doors could pose a problem. She was pretty sure neither her nor James had brought any ID.

She turned towards James. "Don't they lock—?"

With his free hand, James handed her the map, securing his wand in his now empty palm. "They do," he replied calmly. Without any further explanation—which bugged Lily slightly less than it normally would have—he began to trace some complicated-looking movements into the air. He muttered stuff underneath his breath, tickling the nape of Lily's neck. This was all so mesmerizing that Lily forgot that James was currently breaking down the doors' protection rather illegally, and being Head Girl she should not be condoning this type of behavior. But then there was a small click and James silently pushed open one of the doors.

Lily looked after him in shock. How in the world had he done that? "I take it you've done this a lot."

He shrugged. "A few times."

The grass seemed to crunch underneath their feet as they walked across the grounds. With each new step, James's grip on her hand seemed to tighten more and more until Lily swore to herself that her blood flow had definitely been cut off. There was something bothering him; she could tell. Instead of questioning him, she kept her eyes on the map, repressing her feelings by scanning the parchment for any sign of a teacher.

After a few minutes James suddenly pulled Lily to a stop beside him. He was looking at her carefully. His hand made an involuntary movement, like he had wanted to reach up and touch her face but thought better of it. She was glad he'd listened to his brain; she didn't need any more risky situations tonight, especially since she knew she'd already lost her self-discipline.

"Lily," he looked away from her briefly, his eyes flickering to a dark something in the distance; if it had been light outside, Lily would have been able to distinguish it for what it truly was. "You have to promise me something."

Her heart flipped quite uncomfortably. She didn't really like the word 'promise' when it was accompanied with the words 'James Potter'. Their relationship was already shaky enough (well, technically the relationship wasn't even real) but to add some sort of promise into it seemed a bit overwhelming. However, his hand was clenching and unclenching her fingers and she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Okay, so maybe sorry wasn't the right word…she felt…she felt _concerned _for him. He seemed like he was nervous, and Lily could only remember one time off the top of her head where she'd seen the invulnerable Quidditch player uneasy.

And believe it, or not, she really did care for him—no matter how much of a liar or an obnoxious prat he used to be.

Apparently, she had taken too much time to respond, because James said, "Lily?"

"What is it?" she asked.

"You can't tell anyone."

It would be nice if he could explain something just once. Even though he wasn't offering an explanation, Lily got a sense that whatever he was going to tell her, show her, or do to her, was something that no one else should probably know. _Duh, Lily, that's why he asked you to not tell anyone. _Was his trustworthy plan too big? He was just supposed to prove his honesty to her, nothing more and nothing less. He could have just told her that she was way too uptight, studious, and judgmental or something, and that would have been enough. Alright, so it probably wouldn't have--actually she probably would have slapped him--but at least she wouldn't be out here with him totally susceptible to him.

"Tell anyone what, exactly?"

The lenses of his glasses reflected the curious gleam in her eyes as they stared at each other. She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest for reasons she wasn't even sure. Like she said, she was totally vulnerable in this situation. He held her, and he held her there strong.

"Just promise you won't say anything."

Her curiosity had peaked. Not to mention that her concern for the boy was reaching a high point as well. Looking at the situation she had two choices: make the promise, or walk away. If she left, then all of this sneaking around while risking expulsion would be so pointless. Besides, hadn't she agreed to James's outing purely for the reason of finding something she could dislike about him? If whatever he had planned was incredibly idiotic she could go back to secretly hating him while pretending to like him. Right now, she desperately needed an excuse to do that. But, if the opposite happened however…

Sealing her fate, she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I promise."

It was odd how much of an impact those two words had on him. Lily watched the tense lines on his face instantly relax as he smiled. "Come on, then."

The stars twinkled above them as James gave her hand a tug and led her towards that dark object in the distance that he'd been looking at earlier. A light breeze made the cloak flutter. It wasn't until they were about five feet from the object that Lily noticed the unmistakable thick trunk and the wild, violent branches of the—

"—the Whomping Willow?" she yelped, hopping backwards out of harms way and almost tripping over the hem of the Invisibility Cloak. She shouldn't have worried however, because the tree only sprang to life if an offender touched it. Which, she hoped, hadn't and wouldn't happen.

James's hand left hers—no, where was he going? She needed him—as he slipped out from under the Invisibility Cloak. Was he insane? "The trick," James began to explain, kneeling down and picking up a long branch that had probably fallen from the tree during its last onslaught, "is to know how to calm it."

"What in the—"

But Lily didn't finish her sentence because at that moment the tree had awoken, smacking the brown owl that had landed on it out of existence. Hopefully that wasn't someone's pet, but the owl wasn't really Lily's main concern; those branches were made to thrash anyone in its immediate range. Lily yelped as one of the branches skimmed their cloak.

"James, I think we should—"

"Don't worry, I can handle this."

If the situation wasn't so grave (because they very possibly could be digging their own graves fairly soon), Lily would have found this new situation rather humorous. James was currently dodging the flailing limbs of the tree, jabbing the branch in his hand like a brave prince battling a dragon with nothing but a sword, as he tried to approach the base of the willow. She didn't know what was worse; the fact that James appeared to have lost his mind, or the fact that the tree would easily swat him soon.

"This is so much easier when Wormtail's here," James called out, breathing heavily. Lily didn't get it.

And then, after a few scratches and a lot of close calls, James had reached the base. _He's an idiot, a pure idiot_. For a split second he looked quite comical, standing there underneath wrestling branches as he stabbed his stick into the lower part of the trunk (had he slayed the dragon?); miraculously the tree ceased to move. Just like that. It had stopped.

Lily's mouth dropped open as James walked back towards her like he'd simply just wrestled Sirius for the last biscuit at tea. Forgetting her fears of getting caught, Lily threw off the cloak and stared at him, wide eyed. "How in the name of Godric Gryffindor…?"

"Like I said," James said, slightly out of breath, "you have to know how to tame the beast."

"Idiot," Lily cried, punching his arm, "you could've seriously hurt yourself. What about that kid who lost an eye?" She motioned sporadically to her own eye, trying to make a point.

James grinned, taking the cloak and her hand. She calmed. "I thought you were supposed to be angry with me?"

Well, that was a slap in the face. Unable to think of a comeback, she switched the topics. _Smooth, Lily, really smooth. _"Are you going to bother to tell me what this monster of a tree has to do with your plan?"

His face immediately clouded over in anxiousness again. Merlin, was he bipolar or what? One second he's all upbeat, the next he's downcast…She didn't know if she could handle this many ups and downs in one person. "Follow me."

It was sort of creepy stepping up to the now frozen tree that had been trying to kill them a minute earlier. What if it decided it didn't want to be so nice any longer? They would be so screwed… "Climb into that hole," James said suddenly as they approached. Lily gasped; sure enough there was a small hole in the base of the tree trunk just large enough for a human being to slide down into.

She hated how he never gave an explanation. He just told her what to do and expected her to follow it. Git. Though, for some reason, she always ended up going along with him, so his tactics must work. "Why?"

"I would go before the tree wakes back up."

"I thought you had 'tamed the beast'," she mocked.

Ignoring her, he stood behind her. "Let's go in together then."

Incredulously she stared at him, unable to comprehend the thought process his mind went through. Who in their right mind goes and chills inside of a tree? No one, that's who! He was so absurd, so random, so impulsive. She was _not_ getting into that tree. No way...

"Jerk," she mumbled as he helped her up off of the floor after they had both slid down the short tunnel into the narrow space beneath. Her first instinct was to straighten her back, but even before she'd stood up to even half of her height her head hit the tunnel ceiling painfully. "You could've warned me," she accused him.

They crouched lower, traveling humped-back through the short, damp tunnel. Lily looked around hesitantly, but no matter where she looked all she saw were dark walls plastered with mud. "How did you know…?"

"All in due time, Lily," James responded before she could even finish her sentence.

The tunnel finally widened and they were met with a set of rickety looking stairs. Chills shot up Lily's spine as her eyes fell onto long gashes carved in the wooden floor and the deteriorating oak planks of the bottom level of the building they now stood in. She shivered and James looked back at her. "It's a bit worse for wear, but it's harmless," he said, attempting to put her more at ease.

Where were they? And more importantly, why were they here? If she had been in her right state of mind she would've demanded to be taken out of this place. But James maintained a constant pressure on her hand and she obeyed it. This place was creepy and he made her feel safe.

The staircase screeched in protest as they ascended the stairs, Lily behind James. She kept her eyes on his back, taking in his composure. He was calm, collected, so sure of himself. Undoubtedly he'd been here before—was this like his romantic getaway? If so, James needed some serious anti-depressants because this place was the most depressing thing she'd ever seen.

As they reached the landing and passed a foggy boarded up window, Lily gasped. She knew she had vaguely recognized the place! "Why are we in the Shrieking Shack!?" she exclaimed loudly, gripping James's hand tightly and moving right up beside him. This place was haunted! He was not doing a good job of showing his honest side!

A door to the left stood ajar and James pushed it open further, leading Lily inside. Her breaths were coming heavily as she refused to relinquish her hold on him; this room was by far the shabbiest place of the shack that she'd seen. Old chairs were overturned, tufts of hair from who knew what were scattered across the scratched floor, and Lily could have sworn there were splattered drops of dried blood along the walls.

"James, let's go," she said, tugging him.

He looked at her. "The Shrieking Shack isn't haunted."

Quite honestly, Lily didn't care if it was haunted or not, she just wanted out. Her arms and legs were erupting with tiny goosebumps and she did not like it, especially since she didn't understand why they were even here. "Please, let's go," she repeated.

"This mess—" James continued to explain, ignoring Lily and motioning around the room with the arm that Lily was desperately attached to—"was made by us."

Say what? Her head shot up and she watched him closely. He was looking at her and his feet fidgeted uncomfortably. He was nervous again. "Us?" Lily asked, confused.

"Well, not _us_," he clarified, "but Peter, Remus, Sirius, and me."

She shot a quick look around the room again and couldn't quite understand how even the Marauders could create this much of a disturbing disarray. What was he playing at? This made _no _sense. "What do you mean?"

For a moment he clasped his eyes shut tightly, but he did it so quickly it could have just been a blink. When they reopened, he was already pulling his arm out of her grasp and moving away from her. She watched him, struck by his behavior. He stopped a few feet away from her.

"Lily, you promised," he reminded her before he shut his eyes. A look of concentration crossed across his handsome face, and Lily was more confused than ever.

And then he was gone. Lily jumped, staring around wildly. Everything inside of her seemed to be moving at one hundred miles per hour. What—where—how? And then she heard something; hooves clipping on the worn out wooden floor. A brilliantly white stag approached her, his head lowered so she had a clear view of his huge antlers. Awestruck, Lily stared.

_Was that—but how—impossible. _

The majestic animal stopped inches from her, pawing the ground and staring straight at her. Something about the beast—no it was too royal to call a beast—made her forget all of her troubles. Without knowing what she was doing she reached out and touched its head; it leaned in to her touch.

She laughed shortly. "Prongs," she muttered simply. It all made sense—well not all of it, but the nicknames anyway. The Marauders were Animagi! And they came out here to play around as animals, and—

Something struck her. She pulled her hand away from the stag's head and began shaking her head furiously. "Oh my God," she stated, backing away from Prongs. "Oh, holy Merlin. James, you don't."

Her eyes were wide and her mind was spinning at an alarming rate. No, he didn't, he _couldn't_, but every sign pointed to the fact that he did. He could get killed, he could get bitten, he could get _arrested._ Prongs sensed something was wrong and while Lily was blinking rapidly trying to make sense of things James transformed and reappeared as himself. Lily yelped and jumped again.

"This is so illegal," she cried.

"Lily," he began, "we did it just for a bit of fun—"

"—stop lying, James. Keeping a werewolf company?" she demanded as if she were reprimanding him. He'd thought he could get away with it by making it seem like all four of them had decided to become an Animagus because it would be _fun, adventurous? _

Her back hit the wall behind her as she continued to back away from him. James too had come to a dead halt. "How do you know?"

"I'm not an idiot," she responded, her voice high, "I did work with Remus as a Prefect for two years. This is where he comes then, he comes here?"

James nodded. "Yes."

They stared at each other silently, Lily's chest rising and falling heavily, her heart pumping wildly. James ran a hand through his hair. Why had he shown her this? This was too personal! She didn't need to know this much about James Potter!

"Sirius, Peter...they're...?" She couldn't bring herself to say the word.

"A dog and a rat, respectively," he answered.

At a lost for words, that's what someone could describe Lily as at the present moment. She didn't even know if she was angry or what, she just wanted answers. Okay, so she was a little angry, shocked maybe.

"And you come here to babysit a _werewolf_?" she said somewhat sarcastically.

"You don't understand."

"I understand that it's perfectly illegal! I understand that what Remus must go through is horrible, but—"

"Well, you know why we had to do it then," James finally said.

She crossed her arms. "No, no I don't. Do you have any idea—?"

"I do have an idea how dangerous it is, thanks," he replied a bit shortly, "but Moony—Remus—he's our best mate and knowing that he—" James broke off, his eyes shut as if what he were thinking about something that caused him a great personal pain. "You don't know how hard it was to sit back and do nothing."

Her breathing began to calm down and her shoulders relaxed, the shock of James Potter being a stag wearing off slightly. Cocking her head, she watched the boy in front of her, contemplating him. The way he spoke—it was incredibly sweet, even though it was incredibly stupid.

Why was she not upset anymore?

"You don't always have to meddle in everything, James," she said, although her tone had changed and she knew it. Gone was her anger, her disbelief of how absurdly idiotic he could be…it had been replaced by something else, something that she didn't want to place.

James shrugged. "We're the Marauders; it's our duty."

A small smiled flickered across her face as James hesitantly took a step closer towards her. "It does help him, you know," he began, close enough now that she could feel his breath on her face. "He's more human, you know? And we can keep him in check, make sure he doesn't hurt himself."

Lily nodded and reached out her hand to touch his. "You're an okay guy, James Potter." Every part of her mind that was still dwelling on the dare—which really wasn't that big of a part of her brain at the moment—began screaming in protest. Lily repressed their cries however. She had never...she wanted to…argh, she was so full of emotions she didn't know what to think.

His fingers brushed her cheek and her eyes fluttered at the feel of his skin on hers. "You're an _amazing_ girl, Lily Evans."

She blushed and wove her fingers through his. All of her defenses had now officially collapsed and she was more vulnerable with him than she'd ever been. She didn't care that she was being used for money, she didn't care that they were basing this relationship off of a bet and a dare. All that mattered was him, and for once Lily's mind was clearer than it had been for a while. There was one thing, and one thing only, now circulating through her blood.

She was craving his kisses.

James's head was so close to hers. She wanted to grab him by the shirt collar and bring him down to her level, but she didn't want to appear so desperate. But she was; he was simply hovering over her, taking her in. _Bloody prat, just do it already!_

"So, now do you believe me?" he asked her.

"H-huh?" she asked breathlessly. Blast him and his antics! He had made her forget why they were even here in the first place!

"Sirius acted like an idiot—I swear I didn't know."

Oh, right, the Snape incident. That's what he was talking about, but quite frankly, right now, Lily didn't care.

His breath tickled her nose and Lily's heart leapt. Her self-restraint snapped like a rubber band. When a rubber band snaps, it surprises the person holding it even though they probably had some inkling of what would happen if they pulled it too far. The same went with Lily. She knew it was only a matter of time until all of her repressed feelings would come back out again, but it still surprised her, and James, when she acted upon them. In an instant she had pressed herself against him, her lips meeting with his for the second time in two weeks.

James got over the initial shock quickly and took hold of her waist with his hands, pulling her closer. Godric, she was making out with James Potter in the Shrieking Shack…and she liked it.

It wasn't until after they had snuck back into the castle, said goodnight at the base of the respected dormitories, and crept back into their own beds that Lily lost it…or rather, found it. She had failed. Phase five had backfired on her; she had let herself get caught up in the moment again. As she stepped out of her school uniform and into her flannel pajamas, her fingers touched her lips fearfully.

"Where have you been?"

Lily swore and jumped, spinning around to face Marlene, her bed curtains pulled aside to catch the always pristine Head Girl creeping back into bed at one in the morning. As Lily looked at her dark haired friend, she felt the lingering euphoria and care-free atmosphere of her time with James slip away.

Her eyes began to sting, but she refused to cry, especially over _him_. A lump began to rise in her throat and, with a shaky gasp of air, she swallowed it. "I can't do this, Marlene."

What had she done?

* * *

_Uh OH! What's Lily going to do? Do you think she'll give up, or stick it out? And what will Remus think when he finds out that Lily knows the Marauders' secret? Because remember, Remus told Lily to stay out of their business because he claims to think that Lily is just using James. Wow, the next chapter is going to be messy. lol_

_Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful next two weeks! It would make my day if you reviewed!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** _I'm J.K. Rowling...(giggles nervously as the police advance on me) Okay! Just kidding! DON'T HURT MEEE!_

**A/N:** _HOLY COW! 400 reviews?? Hold on, give me second, I think I might pass out...Okay, I'm good. No joke, all of you are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. You are like the sugar in my tea, the whip cream in my hot chocolate, the caramel in my yummy starbucks apple cider...yummm...anyways, I think you all get the point:) Thanks to: ILuvJackSparrowMoreThanU, sophiascribbles, Sunblood, missscarlettbelle, Claudita, Reginald the duck, CaramelBoost, harryyypotteerr, TwinkieTUTUS, Summer Magick, soccergurl1993, dollarbanks, dollarbanks, A-Lady, Lizzar, hpobsessedrissa, the ninja of ramen, pigs can fly, soccerxpotterxlife, into.your.arms, KAWAii PHiLOSOPHY, PrimaDi88, berniebotts, -.LyLMystikeLf.-, Mrs Claire Potter, lilbit18, Mouse and Stupid Productions, brooke, tashville007, BadLilBirdies, Cristipotter, C San, Sprut, coffee dessert, Ali Keys, serenity12345, and Literati and naley forever._

_So, I'm only a week behind. Not bad considering this is prime season for college apps. Yikes, I'm a horrible procrastinator. I had a week off of school for Thanksgiving and I haven't wrriten one college essay...man, I'm so screwed. Future warning for any soon-to-be Seniors...DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! lol Speaking of Thanksgiving (lol), I hope all of you Americans out there had a good one! Eat a lot of turkey and pie? I know I did. lol Well, let's get on with the story. _

_Ohhhhh, and everyone give out a thanks to my new beta, Sunblood (WOOO CHEERR) who edited this chapter like crazy. She's a beast, what can I say? You rock, Sunny! I actually like this chapter now. lol_

* * *

**Chapter 17: Moony and Wormtail and Padfoot, Oh My!**

_He loves me. _

A strand off of a blue feather drifted to the floor.

_He loves me not. _

Another bundle of fuzz joined the other.

_He loves me. He loves me not. _

Bullocks; her quill had run out of feathers. Argh, what was she doing anyways? She wasn't a love stricken ten-year-old girl anymore! Alright, so she _wasn't_ ten.

Sighing pathetically, Lily dropped her now featherless quill onto the small table she was currently occupying and lowered her head into her arms. Large purple circles framed her usually upbeat eyes, compliment to the lack of sleep she'd had the night before. Because of the minimal five hours of slumber—because she doubted if she had ever really fallen asleep—she'd obtained, classes had seemed to drag on all day and, to add to her misery, a pile of essays and questions lay beside her. Not to mention how tiring it had been to act casual around James and resist the urge to recoil—or, on very frequent occasions, jump up, grab him, and snog him senseless—at his touch. Her friends had persuaded her to stay with the dare ("The only way out is through"). Yeah, so maybe Marlene hadn't made the best of sense, but if she really wanted to get over Potter, she might as well finish it off.

With her head turned sideways on the cool surface of the table, Lily flipped through her Potions textbook wearily.

"_Veritaserum or, as it is most commonly known as, truth serum was invented in the late part of the seventeenth century—"_

The stupid potion had been around for darn well near four hundred years, and yet it was hardly ever used. Pity really. If only she had some so she could spoon feed it to James to see what he was really up to, to see if he really had fallen for her…Stop thinking about him, Evans!

"—_by Castariff Jameson.—"_

Lily snorted. Bloody typical that Potter's name would turn up somewhere.

"—_Originally hoping that the potion would be fatal, Jameson intended to poison his brother who, it had been rumored, had stolen his wife."_

Oh, what sick, twisted, young love can do to a person. Stupid James…er Jameson. Dang it, she had hoped doing her homework would have gotten her mind off of her current dilemma. In a huff, Lily slammed her book shut and allowed her forehead to hit the table with a bang. Coming to the library had been a mistake.

"Lily."

Correction: coming to the library had been a _horrible_ mistake.

"Remus," she replied, her voice sharp. She knew where this would eventually lead…

Ignoring her tone that clearly stated that she, in no way, wanted him there, Remus sat down in the chair opposite her, his back rigid. She glanced at him quickly. His face was completely emotionless, which made him appear even more startling. All bloody day she'd been avoiding him successfully—dodging from lessons the second the bell rang, camping out in the girls' dorm during free periods, hopping into the loo during breaks—but now it seemed as if her luck had run out. His cold glare that had followed her around all day had finally caught up with her.

"I don't trust you," he said immediately. His words were rough, almost like he'd just gotten over a terrible head cold, "not anymore."

Her eyes met his again. "Well, James does." Despite her tiredness and her complete dread of having this conversation, she was not going down without a fight. Who was he to reprimand her when he had gambled on her!

"I don't."

Lily strongly resisted the urge to roll her tired eyes. "That's been established, thanks," she said sarcastically. Remus's eyes narrowed even further such that his pupils merely became black slits. "Look, I'm honestly not in the mood for this, so if you could just—"

"Neither am I." He crossed his arms as if for an added effect of his defiance.

"Then bugger off."

Remus laughed, but not in the jovial, that-was-a-good-joke type of way. It was ridiculing, criticizing, and judging. Actually, it sounded quite demented coming from someone as level-headed as Remus Lupin. It made Lily cringed inwardly; what had happened? They'd always gotten on so well together. Actually, she knew where it had all gone wrong. It was his entire fault. He had joined in on the bet—no, not only that, he'd encouraged it as well. Boys could be such idiots!

"You're a piece of work, you know that?" he said, shaking his head in disbelief. A piece of work? Her? What about him? What about his friends? They were like a freaking one hundred foot statue compared to her. "Using someone just to find out something about that person—" he shook his head once more—"If you tell, I swear…" he had abruptly, changing his chain of thought. Lily's mind jumped right there with him.

"Moony, Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail…ingenious, really," she stated, knowing it would get a rise out of him. It oddly pleased her.

"You promised—you—" Apparently, Remus really didn't know what he was trying to say. Lily, however, had a hunch of what he was referring to.

"I promised what? To back off? Look, Remus," she lowered her voice as Madame Pince walked by their table, eyeing them suspiciously, "I didn't ask James to tell me," she explained.

He leaned in towards her, his elbows resting on the table, his face red with anger. "Then don't tell."

She crossed her arms across her chest in an annoyed fashion. "I'm not," she stated simply.

"What was the point, then?" he demanded.

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't like him, do you?"

It was like she was a firefly that had been dared by her little fly-friends to get as close to the mesmerizing light as possible. The catch was, if she got too close then….BZZZTT! She was dead. Evaporated. Gone. Remus was watching her carefully. That question—Merlin, she hadn't even really admitted the truth to her friends yet. If she did share her feelings…God, she'd only get more hurt in the end. She lowered her eyes away from his gaze, and she sensed the change in the atmosphere almost immediately. Bad plan on her part.

BZZZZTT!

"You don't."

"It's none of your business," she hissed at him suddenly angrier than she'd been with him yet, grabbing her books and shoving them into her bag. He had hit her too close to home. That was personal! Had he really expected her to answer that? If so, he was dumber than he let on.

"James is my best mate," he fought.

"_Prongs,_" she began, emphasizing the word with as much strength as she could, "is my friend as well!"

Their voices had begun to rise and a few third years in the far corner were watching the two with beady eyes, no doubt excited that they were witnessing some future gossip. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily could see Madame Pince freeze for a moment with her hand hovering on the bottom shelf of a bookcase. Lily's chest continued to heave angrily and Remus's mouth was open wide, gaping at her.

"Friend?" he asked her, his eyes wide, "no, he bleeding likes you, Evans!"

Her mind was reeling, her palms were sweating, and her heart was thumping wildly. How could Remus—what gave him the right to—he knew James was only interested in the gold! Well, maybe it had started off that way; maybe, now, he really did like her? No, no, no! Hell, all of the Marauders were toying with her emotions. This is exactly how Remus and James wanted her to feel.

Godric, when she fell, she fell hard

"Stay away from him if you're not going to take him seriously," Remus continued, taking her moment's of silence as a sign that she doubted James's intentions, which she actually did. Her hands clasped into fists angrily. Holy wand, if Lily's previous perceptions about the Marauders' bet had been right, and Remus was rooting for James to win, then why did it feel like he was telling her to bugger off? Just as she thought this situation couldn't get any more confusing than it already was…wow, had she been naïve.

"I'm not an idiot," she said to him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She grabbed her bag forcefully and swung it around her shoulder. She wouldn't be surprised if she had overturned some of its contents onto the floor. "I know how serious he is."

In a huff, she turned on her heel. Remus didn't have to know that she was referring to the bet. Bullocks, was she confused—would this just continue to spiral downwards until it all exploded in her face? Why was Remus—and how come he—?

"You dropped something."

Lily spun around, clasping the strap to her bag tightly. Remus marched up to her and thrust something into her hand. She closed her fingers around the laminated, rectangular something and stared the sandy-haired boy in the eyes.

"Don't make him regret giving this," he said before stalking from the library, his school robes bellowing out behind him.

_What was that about? _She looked down at the thing that must have fallen from her bag. Her heart skipped a beat.

It was the Quidditch gift card…from James.

OO

"Oy, where'd Moony get off to?"

Peter shrugged as he continued to stuff his dirty clothes underneath his bed, disregarding the fact that, though they may be out of the way, the smell would continue to linger. "Said something about finding Evans," he replied, scrunching his nose up in distaste after catching a whiff of his sock.

James shot upright, almost dislodging the lamp on the table beside his bed. "Why?"

"Dunno."

"Well then, where's Padfoot?"

"Said something about finding Evans."

Convulsing again, James almost sent his glass of water tumbling over as well as his lamp. "Why?" What did his two best friends want with his girl? This could not be good…

"Dunno."

"Dammit, Wormtail, what kind of help are you?" James asked, throwing his legs off the side of his bed. He approached his trunk and began ruffling through it, eventually finding the map that he'd just used the night before. He'd been on a thin edge all day. Any little thing seemed to bug him. The night before he'd been ecstatic; not only had he shared his Animagus form with Lily and she had actually praised him for it (well, as close as praise as it would get) but she had kissed him as well. Today, however…James shook his head. Today Lily had seemed to be on an edge as well, almost as if she had lost control of her broomstick and was trying to clutch on for dear life before she dropped one hundred feet to her death.

Drastic, really.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good," James said, tapping the parchment sharply with his wand.

"Hey, how did a pair of Sirius's knickers get under my bed?" Peter asked, holding up a pair of Bludger-decorated boxer shorts at a distance in between two of his fingers. It was obvious he didn't wish to touch them more than he had to.

James glanced up from the Marauder's Map briefly, looking from the underpants to the disgusted looking Peter. "You're asking me," he muttered. His hazel eyes roamed over the parchment, scanning it for at least one of the three names he was looking for. "You think they're going to threaten her?" he asked abruptly.

With a swish of his wand, Peter levitated Sirius's undergarment and threw it onto his bed. "Who, Evans?"

"No, Father Christmas…of course Lily," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, Remus seemed a bit peeved when you told us last night," he responded, finally having achieved the feat of hiding his dirty laundry from view. Getting up off of the floor, Peter meandered over to James and looked over his shoulder at the map as well. "It's a pretty large secret."

"What was I supposed to do? After Padfoot's idiocy I had to do something," James said.

Peter's blue eyes zoomed over the map's contents as well. "Yeah, but did you have to go and tell the Head Girl, of all people, that we were breaking several big laws? And check the Astronomy Tower," he added as an afterthought.

James glared at him. He was determined that he'd done the right thing; it had been—at the time anyways—the only way to get things where he wanted them. Friends were supposed to back their friends up instead of telling them that they were totally irresponsible and would, one day, end up in Azkaban. _Stupid Padfoot, like he should be one to talk. _James thought to himself. _And now Wormtail too! _And to think he was risking Azkaban for these guys…

"I've already looked there," James added in a slightly annoyed tone, pointing to the place on the map marked 'Astronomy Tower'. He hoped to Merlin they weren't there. James didn't think Lily would do that, let alone Moony or Padfoot.

"Look," Peter pointed out, deciding to drop their earlier conversation. Smart move, actually – as stated above, Prongs had been on edge all day.

For the third time that afternoon, James jumped. "You found her?"

"No," Peter responded. James whacked him upside the head. "If you would let me finish," he continued, rubbing the back of his head, "Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice are heading up here."

His first reaction was, 'why in the world were they heading up to the boys' dorm?' If his memory served him correctly neither Marlene, nor Dorcas, nor Alice had ever set foot in the Marauders' room. Well, that he knew of anyways. Lily had once or twice, but her friends? Oh, Godric, what if they snuck in periodically and went through their stuff? Oh, Lord, that would be embarrassing. He shook his head, frantically setting his mind back on track.

Back, vivid imagination, back!

Now, what could they possibly want? The map didn't show Lily with them, so why—

James blanched. "Crap." He shoved the map into Peter's hands. "Crap." He looked around the room helplessly. Holy hippogriff! What did Lily's three best friends want? Did they know? Had she told them? For the love of Merlin's pointy hat, what did they want?

"Three," Peter began to count down, "two," Peter continued as James ran a hand through his hair distractedly, "one," Peter finished as James thought about throwing himself out the window.

Right on cue, a series of knocks shook their door. Before James could launch himself out of the three foot panel of glass, and before Peter could even wonder why James was unlatching the lock to the window, their dormitory door swung open. This only gave James a split second to realize that, for the first time in his young life, Peter was less nervous about a girl entering their dorm than he was.

Pull together, Potter!

"I feel like we shouldn't be here," Alice stated, leading the pack and kicking a lone shoe that was in the doorway into the far corner. James took a calming breath and stepped away from his escape route; he was trapped.

"Enemy territory," Marlene remarked with a snort of laughter.

James glanced at Peter, who shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, guys," Dorcas greeted, finally acknowledging the fact that they had just walked into a room occupied with people.

_Girls._

"Where's Lily," James blurted out automatically. Dear Lord, he probably sounded like a raving, possessive lunatic. In his defense, it wasn't every day that his soon-to-be (he hoped) girlfriend's best friends busted into his room coincidently after James had shared the biggest, most illegal secret in the world with the afore mentioned girl.

"Never you worry, James," Marlene clucked, patting his arm. "Anyways, we want a word with Peter."

The boy in question flinched, remembering the last time they'd cornered him. He gingerly shuffled over to his bed and picked up his discarded wand, just in case. James, on the other hand, was extremely relieved because they hadn't come to take him away. Phew. "Why?" James asked curiously, looking from the pretty brunette to his twitchy friend.

"Yeah, why?" Peter repeated.

"Homework help," Dorcas replied without missing a beat. "Now come on."

"But—"

"Herbology," Alice clarified.

"But neither of you take—"

"See you at practice, James," Dorcas said, grabbing Peter around the arm and marching him out.

His mouth gaped open, James simply waved. Peter looked back at his friend with wide eyes, clearly wanting James to save him. What in the— No, he really didn't even want to know. For a split second, James felt bad for not coming up with a clever plan to save Wormatil, but then again it was only homework help…or so they said. He was just happy they weren't there to castrate him or something. Now, where had his map gotten off to? Time to track down Lily.

OO

Dorcas maintained a strong grip on Peter's upper arm all the way down the staircase. No wonder she was such a good Quidditch player; she had a grip of steel! But, as Peter would have liked to point out, he was not a Quaffle and therefore didn't need to be manhandled so harshly. None of the girls offered any sort of explanation, and Peter wasn't stupid enough to ask for one, until they had guided him through the common room—attracting many odd stares—and out of the portrait hole.

Peter rubbed his arm as Dorcas released him, attempting to get his blood circulating properly once more. "You three do not take Herbology," was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

Rolling her eyes, Marlene laughed. "Thanks for stating the obvious."

"We need your help."

"Again?"

"Again," Alice clarified.

Groaning, Peter looked between the three girls. "I really would like to know how I became your puppet doll."

"You seem to be neutral."

The girls received an odd look from Peter. "Between who? Evans and James?" he asked confusedly. "Everything's going fine."

"That's the problem," Dorcas said.

Going fine did not seem like a problem to Peter. Usually the words 'going fine' meant that a situation was…well, going fine. They seemed happy—maybe a little jitterier around each other today than usual—but they had already kissed twice. That had to count for something, right?

"I don't get it."

His eyes narrowed as the girls moaned at his slow brain process. It wasn't his fault! How was he supposed to know what they were talking about if they hadn't offered up any explanation whatsoever?

_Note to self: tell them not to become professors…ever._

"If everything's fine I really don't see—"

"Why hasn't he asked her out yet?" Marlene blurted in, interrupting him.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Well, this was uncomfortable. How was he supposed to know what went on in the crazy romantic part of James's mind? And besides Prongs was his best friend…would he get pounded on if he told? "I dunno..." the girls all groaned again. He attempted to redeem himself. "Maybe he's not ready for…er…commitment?"

"Oh, puh-lease," Dorcas remarked.

"So, you're telling us that he hasn't mentioned asking her out at all?" Alice asked suspiciously.

"…er…"

"You're one of his best friends! Don't boys tell each other when they plan on hitching a girl?" Marlene cried.

Peter looked at the three people around him. Hm…three against one. How was that fair? It was like placing one mouse in a room with three lions and telling the mouse to find its way out. He chuckled to himself at how real that situation actually was.

"Why are you laughing?"

Darn it. He'd been laughing out loud? He stopped himself abruptly and cleared his throat. "Fine, he did mention it once…"

"When?"

"What?"

"How?"

His mind spun at the frequency of all the different questions being thrown at him. It was mainly for the reason that he wanted to get out of this situation as fast as he could that he started talking. "He's wanted to ask her out ever since New Years," he explained quickly to get them to all stop yelling at him.

"Then why hasn't he?"

"Bad timing?" Peter offered. "You know, with the whole Snape thing and everything," he began scratching the back of his neck which was feeling pretty hot a sticky at the moment.

"That's all he's told you?" Marlene questioned.

"Well, no."

All three of them tapped their feet impatiently, apparently waiting for him to continue with his story and spill the juicy secrets. "So, are you going to tell us, or…"

"Quidditch," Peter divulged to the group suddenly. _Give them what you want, and they'll leave you alone._ "This Saturday, after the Quidditch match."

The girls looked at each other, communicating in a way that only girls seemed to know how. Peter always had wondered how they could talk to each other without words when he couldn't even read people's lips. Girls were very odd, and apparently gifted in telecommunication.

"Can you possibly get him to do it sooner?"

Knowing it would please them, Peter said, "I can try."

Dorcas clapped him on the back. "Good man, Peter."

"Yeah," Marlene agreed, "you can leave now."

As Peter walked back towards the portrait hole and up to meet James in their dormitory, he still couldn't fathom the strange world of girls.

OO

"Whatcha looking at, Evans?"

Lily jumped from her spot by the Gryffindor fire. Godric, why did the Marauders keep re-appearing unexpectedly in her life today? Sirius stood before her, arms crossed, and Lily hastily shoved the thing she'd been looking at out of sight.

It was that blasted Quidditch gift card.

"What do you want, Black?" she asked.

"Heard Amelia got her grades back up and I wanted to offer up my condolences."

Amelia wasn't failing anymore? Well, that was a revelation—wait! What? That must mean that—No, she didn't want to leave the Quidditch team! She hadn't even been able to buy her broom yet. She stared at Sirius, wide eyed. This was news to her. "Repeat, please," she said.

"Yep, good old Amelia is back, pity really."

Lily scoffed, crossing her arms annoyingly. "You've been trying to get me to quit all year," she retorted crossly.

Sirius sat down beside her casually, kicking her schoolbag a few feet in front of the couch so he could use it as a foot rest. She cringed—_get your bloody feet off my bag, Black_—ready to shoot off at him, but she bit her tongue, wanting any information she could get out of the guy. Ha! Wishful thinking. Stupid bloke.

"No, not quit, per se," he said cryptically.

She narrowed her eyes, regarding him carefully. "Well, then, do you just like to demoralize me?"

His grey eyes looked back at her; he smirked with ease. It made him look devilishly handsome, but right now Lily wanted nothing more than to stab him in the eye. "You could say that."

After a few more seconds of silence, Lily realized that she wasn't going to get anything more out of him—it was probably a miracle that she'd gotten has much as she had. Rolling her eyes, she stood up and jerked her bag out from underneath his feet. He didn't seem to mind, but, on the contrary, simply continued to watch her like nothing had happened. Too odd…

"Whatever, Black," she mumbled underneath her breath. She began heading up to her dorm to collect her Quidditch stuff because she had practice in twenty minutes, when Sirius spoke again.

"Go plead to Prongs."

She whirled around. "Sorry?"

"I said," he began, standing up and walking over to her, "go talk to him. Maybe he'll boot Amelia off if you do."

For a while they simply stared at each other. What was he playing at? And, more importantly, why did he want her on the team anyways? He'd done nothing for the past couple of months to make her feel wanted or encouraged; always cracking jokes, replaying poor moves she'd done during a practice, anything to get her away from Quidditch and away from his best mate. But now, here he was, telling her to go fight her way back onto the team?

Major confusion.

"Black, you're an odd one."

He flashed her a smile and shrugged nonchalantly, "Just trying to help."

She looked at him oddly. "Who? Yourself, or me?"

"Both of us."

Her face arranged itself into a very odd expression, like a cat that'd proudly brought back a mouse and couldn't understand why its master was shrieking so frightfully. Sirius was still grinning at her in that peculiar way and it only made her more puzzled than ever. Though she still had no clue of what was going on, Lily turned slowly away from Sirius—hoping he'd stop her again to say something else—and climbed the stairs up to her room.

Shoot. He hadn't stopped her. Now she was left to decode his strange and extremely vague hints all by herself. She was too tired for this today! _Okay, think, Lily, think_. If she did ask James to keep her on the team, would she be falling into some trap that he and Sirius had planned out? Hmm…and somehow the bet incorporated Quidditch, because the only reason Sirius wanted her to remain a team member had to be because he wanted to win the bet. He had even admitted it would help him! Not to mention the whole thing about the next Quidditch game revealing the outcome of the bet.

Godric, James Potter's life really did revolve around the sport. That much was obvious now. But what did it all have to do with her?

Well, so much for trying to think it all out. What a bummer…She was more lost than she had been when she had started

Bloody Black.

* * *

_And that's that folks! Again, thanks to sunblood! You rock my socks off. _

_Next chapter--More of Lily and James and possibly the Quidditch match that will reveal all! DUN DUN DUNNNN_

_Thanks for reading and it would be wonderful if you reviewed!!! Now, time to go start yet another college app...yikes._

_---HeyLookTheSnitch_


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** _Nada. Zippo. Zero._

**A/N:** _(puts on a creepy voice) Youuu are myyyy precciioouuusss...Okay, enough of my Lord of the Rings impersonations...but seriously, thank you so much for reading and reviewing. My HUGGEE appreciations go out to: Fuzzyfirebunny, Lilah Aine, Bunnyluv611, sunstone-dono, Sprut, berniebotts, A Fan, mae garnder, Kikuchi, this is my reality, Bellas-lullaby, tin-tin456, -Jeisa-,chili's-girl, popcorn, C San, Mrs Claire Potter, Cookies94, -.LyLMystikeLf.-, Lily'sTwin, BadLilBirdies, MusicShoes, lilbit18, dollarbanks, stardust718, novella07, PrimaDi88, TwinkieTUTUS, Cristipotter, Princess Gillybean, coffee dessert, PRONGS-and-LILY-forever, Claudita, and Lizzar._

_HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE...(or for you Australians and other day-ahead people) HAPPY NEW YEARS! WELCOME 2008! Finally, my graduation year! PARTAYY_

_Seriously, I'm so sorry for the long wait. But, you'll be happy to know that the chapter after this is already done and it's extremely action packed (well, not like bloody-people-dying action packed but more like hearts-are-breaking-Quidditch-game action packed). And it's super long. So look forward to that chapter which should be up sometime in two weeks...maybe a little sooner if all goes well._

_C San--Don't worry. There are supposed to be some questions out there that haven't been answered yet. No worries though! All will be explained!  
Cookies94--as for your prediction of what's going to happen, all I've got to say is, "No comment...ahem!"  
Stardust718--I'm planning on this story to only be a few more chapters longer. There definitely won't be more than 23-25 chapters.  
-Jeisa---I know, I know, my lack of updates has probably caused a lot of people to forget what's been going on, so here's a quick summary of the main plot of this story so far._

_Recap:_

_The bet/dare: Sirius and James made a bet regarding whether or not James can get Lily to go out with him. In response, Lily's friends dared Lily to pretend to like James, in order to get his hopes up, and then dump him when he asks her out, causing him to lose. For some reason, and Lily's not quite sure why, the outcome of the bet also has to do with the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin._

_Lily's thoughts on the bet:  
--Sirius doesn't want Lily to like James.  
--Remus does, but he's afraid that she's only using him to find out the Marauders' secrets, so he tries to keep a watch on them when they're together.  
--Peter's in the middle._

_The Phases:  
Phase one: Control her temper when around the Quidditch prodigy himself.  
Phase two: Join in on something that interests him.  
Phase three: Actually call him by his first name.  
Phase four: Go with him to his New Year's Ball.  
Phase five: Make him crave her kisses._

_Hope that helped a little! If anyone's still confuse PM me and I'll respond.  
So, without further ado, have fun reading this chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter 18: Unraveling the Bet**

"For the last time, you're not on the team, Evans."

Clutching the school broom she'd been using since joining the team, Lily approached the already assembled group on the pitch, a little out of breath. After her odd, but albeit informative (well, as informative it could get with Sirius) conversation with Black, Lily had rushed to her room, changed into her Quidditch gear, and had practically run to the pitch. Clearly, seeing as the captain was already addressing his team, she was late. Soon, however, the fact that she may be late might not even matter. In fact, it might turn out that she hadn't even needed to show up. She had even almost left her broom behind.

Almost.

Dorcas caught her friend's eye and motioned with her hand for her to join them. "Amelia wants back on," she whispered into Lily's ear once she'd joined them.

"I know," she muttered back, glancing, for the first time, at the center of the circle. She wasn't surprised to see James there (seeing as he _was _captain of the team), but she was shocked to find that he was in a heated discussion with the one and only, Amelia Evans. The other team members were gathered around the two of them, the quarrel having caught everyone's attention.

"You suspended me only until I got my grades back up," Amelia shouted, broom in hand. Her hair had fallen from her ponytail and stray pieces were hanging around her face ferociously. It made her seem quite frightening

"P's are hardly considered passing," James said coolly, crossing his arms and glaring. It was obvious to Lily that this argument had been going on for a while. Hey, wait a moment; shouldn't Amelia have been welcomed back with open arms?

What was going on?

Shifting her head to the side, Lily watched James steadily. Was he doing what she thought he was doing? Her heart leapt painfully and her grip on her broom handle tightened. She shifted her gaze to Amelia, who seemed on the verge of exploding, or clocking James in the face at any rate. Her muscled hands were clenched into fatty fists and her beady dark eyes looked almost as dangerous as a bowtruckle did right before it launched on someone to gauge their eyes out.

"McGonagall said—" she began, eyes bugging out of her head.

"Is she the captain of this team?" James countered back shortly.

Mark Botley, Lily's fellow Beater, opened his lips as if he was about to answer the question out loud, but one look from Amelia and he quickly shut his mouth. Mary Macdonald was smirking slightly, while shaking her head discreetly from side to side.

Lily couldn't help but be a bit confused.

"It would be better off if she were," Amelia grumbled under her breath. James caught her words, however, and Lily watched as he straightened his back. Oh dear, Lily knew that look; it was the look he always got right before he finalized an argument that he knew he was going to win.

"This is a closed practice, Evans," James said, motioning towards his team mates who instantly parted, creating a slim path for exiting. Dorcas pulled Lily to the side. "I suggest you leave," James finished.

For a second, Amelia looked completely gob-smacked, almost as if she couldn't possibly believe that James would risk his last chance of winning the Quidditch cup. Her dark pupils seemed to sink into the back of her head and her mouth hung open shamelessly. Then, like she'd just been hit in the back of the head with a player's Beater bat, Amelia whipped her head around, focusing on Lily, instantly pouncing like a cat onto her prey

Lily's hand jumped instinctively to her wand.

"This," Amelia said hysterically, pointing savagely towards Lily, "_this _is who you think is better than me?" The team shuffled somewhat as Amelia snorted disbelievingly. "She's nothing but a replacement!"

Lily's eyes narrowed. How dare that little—Firing up instantly, Lily made a motion to stalk forward, but Dorcas placed a hand on her arm, for once giving a gesture of calm and rational reasoning. Amelia was much bigger than she was. But Lily was much smarter when it came to wand work…No, this was not something she needed to get into.

Besides, James had already gotten there first. Wait, she didn't want _Potter _fighting _her_ battles. Did she? No, certainly not. But—_shut it, just shut it_, she told herself.

"Amelia, as Head Girl—"

Rolling her eyes, the ex-beater cackled wildly. "You," she began, addressing James again, "seriously think Little Miss Head Girl here can play?"

"Yeah, I do," James said confidently, "Now that _that's _clear, I think it's time for you to go."

Completely red in the face, hands shaking wildly, and hair crackling, Amelia marched passed James—who she purposefully shouldered angrily—and left the circle, muttering audible curses under her breath. Immediately there was an outbreak of murmuring amongst the team.

"Whoa," whistled Dorcas quietly, releasing the hold she had maintained on Lily, "talk about dramatic."

"Yeah…" Lily responded half-heartedly, watching Amelia's retreating back. She had come down here with the intention of being sent straight back up to the castle in favor of Amelia, the Beater golden girl. Actually, she had even thought about taking Sirius's advice (scary thought, she knew) and had prepared to discuss that matter, very maturely, with James so that she could stay on the team. All of that, now, seemed unnecessary.

What had gone wrong? Or more accurately, what had gone right?

"Alright you lot," James called, catching his team's attention as if nothing whatsoever had happened, "this won't disrupt our practice. Everyone in the air in five minutes."

Robbie and Mark began heading to the changing rooms to collect their stuff as the rest of the team talked amongst themselves about what they had just witnessed. As Robbie and Mark walked passed Lily and Dorcas, the girls caught a glimpse of the conversation.

"…only because he's got a thing for Lily," Mark was saying, laughing while keeping his voice down so as to not be overheard by their captain. Lily's ears perked at the sound of her name; Dorcas grabbed her friend's wand-wrist again. Surely Mark was joking…right?

"Who cares?" Robbie countered, "Amelia scared me, good riddance, I say."

The boys continued to guffaw and crack jokes as they meandered away. Lily watched their backs; _only because he's got a thing for Lily…_Great, now it would be even more awkward when the end of this dare/bet thing came to be. If they were already talking…What would everyone say then? And had James kept her on just because he fancied her? No, it was because he wanted to win the bet. Right?

Uh oh. She was going to be the one who looked like the bad guy once she ended it with Potter. The whole Quidditch team would rally against her—well, except for Dorcas—and then she'd probably be kicked off the team anyways…

Oh, mother of Merlin. That was it. That was why the bet depended on the next Quidditch match. She had played right into the Marauders' bet with her dare. If she played well, James would ask her out, knowing that he could keep her on and still win the Quidditch cup, his pride and glory. However, if she played rubbish, James wouldn't possibly ask her out because he'd have to boot her off the team, risking hurting her feelings and having her ditch him, causing him to lose the bet. That's why Sirius wanted her to stay on the team and that's why he kept trying to psyche her out. He wanted her to play terribly so James wouldn't ask her out.

Merlin, the very time restriction her and her friends had been competing against had been created by them!

"Ignore them," Dorcas was saying in her ear, pulling her aside, apparently thinking that Lily's thoughtful silence was because she was upset about Mark Botley's comment. Lily glanced at her friend, her heart pumping with this new realization, but kept her mouth shut. They couldn't discuss this here, especially since the devil himself was walking right towards them.

"Hey," James said, taking Lily around the waist, drawing her into a brief side hug.

With all of the new information she'd just found out herself, her first instinct was to push him away. _No, like it or not, you're still doing the dare_. Wait a second…James had just kept her on in favor of Amelia…he must really think that she had a chance of being a good Beater! She became light headed. What did that mean, then? And why did he still have this effect on her, darn it!

"Why'd you do that?" Lily asked immediately.

"What? You want to be off the team?" he asked her, a small smile apparent on his face.

Lily crossed her arms. "Well, no, but…"

"You deserve it," James said earnestly, interrupting her, "you've improved and quite frankly, you're better to have around than Evans."

She simply peered up at him, blocking out the glare from the setting sun with one of her hands. He was honestly keeping her on? James thought she was good? How sweet…Merlin, she shouldn't be grinning like such an idiot. _He doesn't really like me!__ Or does __he__…_

"But Sirius said that she was back," Lily continued slightly dazed.

"Since when do you listen to Sirius?" James asked, rubbing his thumb in smooth circles on her hand which he'd taken. It was as if every moment lost not touching her was one moment away from winning the bet.

Goosebumps erupted up her arm. Darn him and his seductive antics that usually made her brain turn to mush. _He's using you, he's using you! But he believes in me…_Godric, she was in trouble. "Good point," she responded.

With a wink, he released her hand and stepped away from her. She sighed unhappily…argh, she had to get over this! He used to make her gag at his touch…now she was practically melting like drippy wax off of a candle. Pathetic, really.

"Okay, on your brooms, everyone. We've got to kill Slytherin this weekend."

As Lily mounted her broom, after rejoining Dorcas, she couldn't help but have an internal fight with herself…again. Bloody Potter was turning her into a lunatic. James was even risking the Quidditch cup to win his bet with Sirius. Did they really take their little gambling games that seriously? Or was James falling into an abyss just as deep as she was?

It made sense to think that James really did like her…

And for Godric's sake, why did it seem like Quidditch always revolved around everything to do with James Potter?

OO

"So, I don't think we can really count on Peter to persuade James to ask you out sooner," Marlene was saying, as the four girls sat in their respected beds. Dorcas was polishing her broomstick, Alice was flipping through her charms book, Marlene was sucking on the end of her quill while attempting to finish her potions homework, and Lily was lying in her bed simply staring at the ceiling.

"It's got to be Quidditch," Lily said softly, eyes closed. Honestly, they should have figured it out sooner, really.

"Sorry?" Dorcas asked, setting aside her rag.

Lily sat up. "I've figured it out. I mean, really, it's _Potter _we're talking about."

Alice glanced at the other two. "Well, thanks for clearing that up."

"Yeah, it would've been annoying if you hadn't explained yourself properly," Marlene commented with a roll of her eyes.

"Listen," Lily began and she launched into her sudden epiphany that she had had down at practice that evening. She explained the reason Sirius had been trying to bring her down since she'd joined the team, she told them of how James had kept her in favor of Amelia—while Dorcas did impressions of Amelia's face after hearing she was still suspended from the team—and most importantly, Lily shared how they, themselves, had created this whole Quidditch time limit to the bet by using phase two.

"…so, that means, I really have two choices," Lily finished, fiddling with the edge of her sheets as she stared around at her friends.

Marlene's eyes were bright, finally understanding. "If you want to complete the dare—"

"—and stay on the team," Dorcas broke in.

"Yes, and that, then you must play well on Saturday," Marlene said.

"But," Alice broke in, catching on as well, "if you just want James to lose the bet right off the bat you can just play horribly and he won't ask you out."

"He could always ask her out later though," Dorcas brought up, disregarding her broom all together as she crossed her legs and put her full attention onto the problem at hand. "Which," the blonde Chaser continued, "would only lengthen out the dare, and Lily wants to end this as soon as possible."

Did she want to end this? It had become so normal, easy even, to like James Potter. Besides, this year had gone by a lot smoother with them together. She didn't have to worry about flowery pronouncements of love, or fights with the Slytherins, or anything about Potter that usually drove her to the point of hexing him heavily. So, really, no, she did not want this to end. But she knew it had to eventually.

Besides, she wanted to play well. Staying on the Quidditch team had become oddly important to her.

"I'll play well," Lily announced, nodding to herself, "and stay on the team."

Her friends shared looks. "…and cause Potter to lose the bet?" Marlene added apprehensively.

At that exact moment, a small tat-tat noise interrupted their conversation. They looked around the room curiously; it sounded like someone was tapping on their window—

"Is that James's owl?" Alice asked, hopping up off of her bed, which was closest to the window. She unlatched the lock and the large, brown owl—the same one that had visited Lily's house over Christmas—drifted into the room and landed softly at the foot of Lily's bed.

She looked at her friends and then at the bird. "Harley?" she asked hesitantly, remembering the name of it. It hooted proudly as it stuck out its leg, delivering the small scroll. Lily untied it and the bird immediately took off. Alice shut the window.

"Well," Dorcas pushed.

"Well, what?" Lily asked.

"Open it."

She recognized James's scrawl immediately—it always amazed her how his writing was messy, yet neat at the same time. Her eyes wandered across the parchment, though there wasn't much to read.

_Lily—common room at eleven?__ Don't worry. No outside adventures tonight. –James_

"What does that mean? 'No outside adventures'?" Dorcas asked, having read the letter over her friend's shoulder.

Lily rolled the letter back up and stuffed it into her pocket. "No idea," she mumbled. True to her word, she hadn't told her friends the truth of where James's had taken her the night before. All Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice knew was that they'd spent some time together and they had kissed. That was all.

"Well, he can't be asking you out, if your theory about the whole Quidditch thing is true," Marlene told them all wisely. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Lily shot back, glancing at her watch to check the time. Nine o'clock.

"Maybe he's really fallen for you and no longer cares if you're rubbish at Quidditch or not," Marlene finished.

Having her friends voice her own thought made Lily want to believe that James really did like her all the more. It was a hopeless idea, really. This whole thing was so royally screwed over that no matter which angle it was viewed at, it just couldn't end up well. "Don't," Lily remarked, "just don't."

There was a short silence.

"I'm going to go at eleven," Lily said confidently, stripping off her Quidditch robes and walking over to her trunk of clothes.

Her friends nodded. "Okay."

As the three other girls silently resumed their original tasks, Lily continued to change, slipping out of her Quidditch gear and stepping into a pair of jeans and a sweater. As she combed her hair she wondered what secrets James Potter could possibly have left to show her.

OO

_Breathe, Lily, Breathe._

She shut the door to her dorm softly and began to descend down to the common room. Nerves were gripping her, causing her to be abnormally excited about seeing him. Her lips were tingling, thinking about how it felt the night before to simply kiss him without any complicated thoughts or conflictions. It seemed that whenever she was around James nowadays, she forgot about the dare and simply acted off of her instincts.

Was that good or bad?

She didn't know.

"You showed," James said, literally swooping down upon her the moment she entered the room. He grabbed her wrist and kissed her swiftly on the cheek.

Lily noticed he smelled vaguely of aftershave. The overall effect was nice. "Well, it was either come, or finish Slughorn's essay," Lily said smiling and allowing him to pull her over to the deserted couch by the fire.

"Aw, fun over homework. It appears I've been rubbing off on you, Miss Evans," James tutted, grinning at her.

"Don't let it go to your head; I never said it was a good thing," Lily replied. James laughed and Lily couldn't help but smile. "So, what exactly did you pull me down here for? Another Invisibility Cloak to show me?"

"Sorry, no, only got one of those," James said, "Actually, I just thought we'd talk."

Lily stared. Her mouth twitched. "Talk?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes, talk."

Finding this somewhat amusing—for she never really thought of James as the talking type of guy—Lily brought her legs up onto the couch and sat cross-legged, facing him. He looked incredibly cute: his messy hair still a bit damp from a recent shower, his glasses perched on his nose, and his hazel eyes regarding her so carefully. She inhaled deeply to gain control of herself before leaning her back against the armrest of the couch. "So, what do you want to discuss?"

He shrugged carelessly, scooting closer towards her. "I dunno," he said.

Lily didn't buy it. There had to be some reason he called her down here. "Well, if you can't think of anything interesting to say—which would be a feat considering it's you—then I'll just go to bed. We do have classes in the morning."

"Oh, the Head Girl in you comes back out," he joked.

"The Head Boy in you remains unseen," she countered, nudging him with her foot.

The two were quiet for a moment, the fire crackling merrily before them. James cleared his throat. "Remus and Sirius both cornered you today, didn't they?" he suddenly asked seriously.

Where had _that _come from? How'd he know? She wouldn't think that they would have told their best mate that they were trying to push her away from him. Well, at least that's what Black as trying to do…she wasn't quite sure what Remus's deal was. "What makes you think that?" she asked, stricken by the sudden question.

"I just wanted to make sure they didn't…I dunno," he confessed, sighing, "They weren't too happy when they found out I told you about our…abilities."

Well, that was made clear due to her conversation with Remus. "I can understand that," she said, nodding encouragingly.

"Yeah…" James breathed, watching her pensively.

"Anything else?" she asked. There had to be something else…he was acting odd. She had come to suspect something was up whenever any of the Marauders were too quiet. Lack of noise around the four of them was unnatural, not to mention highly suspicious.

She straightened her back and looked at him. A small grin was forming across his face. "I just wanted you to know…I really do think that you're the best chance for our team," he finished.

Had he just…?—yes he had. She continued to watch him as he nodded to himself, apparently reassuring himself of what he'd just shared with her. Was he only saying this so he could boost up her confidence on the pitch to insure he'd win the bet on Saturday? Or was there something more? Did he really mean that? Merlin…she had to know these answers!

Acting off of her instincts, again, she inched closer towards him and placed her hand on his. "Thanks."

Rumpling up his hair with his free hand—out of habit, Lily presumed—James smirked in a satisfied way and wove his fingers through hers. Lily could feel the goosebumps rising up her arm—thank goodness she was wearing long sleeves.

She had to get out of there before she did anything rash. Go, Lily, go. "I'll see you tomorrow, James," she said softly.

"Breakfast?"

"Well, it's sort of hard to ignore you four..."

They sat there for a moment longer, neither knowing what to do. Lily glanced at his lips…_No._ She couldn't risk getting any more attached to him than she already was. Resisting the urge to snog him like a mad woman, she leaned over and touched his shoulder.

"'Night, James." Her lips touched his cheek shortly. He placed a hand on her hip, hoping to draw her closer, but Lily unwound herself from him—with great will power she would like to point out. Grinning once more at him, she turned to walk away.

"See you," he called out.

Once she was back in her dorm, she leaned against the door and sighed heavily. Quidditch game on Saturday… She had a feeling it would be harder to play well with the thought of denying James Potter looming over her.

* * *

_Ahh, I gotta go eat! So, I hope you liked it, please review, thanks to my amazing beta, Sunny, and have a wonderful New Years!_

_"MOM! I'M COMING!"_

_Okay, gotta go!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** _I once pretended to be J.K. Rowling online…but alas, I'm not her in real life. Therefore I don't own the famous scarhead…and I'm totally kidding about the online thing._

**A/N:** _SQUUEELLLL...you guys are simply wonderful. Thanks a kazillion to: sunstone-dono, A. Fan, LyLMystikeLf, pigs can fly, TheHorcruxHunter, berniebotts, RAMEN DISASTER, reader, yellowxxxlilys, Cristipotter, mae garnder, grayx3eyedsoul, vintage bluejeans, -Jeisa-, Mrs Claire Potter, scribbles.pooksta, TwinkieTUTUS, lilbit18, MusicShoes, sophiascribbles, C San, soccerxpotterxlife, Bellas-lullaby, Princess Gillybean, Possibletanya, Lilah Aine, soccergurl1993, tin-tin456, Violin Ghost, PRONGS-and-LILY-forever, PrimaDi88, dollarbanks, coffee dessert, and MissMarauder4487._

_Okay. So… Look up at that little date besides the word "update." Go ahead. Look. I'll give you a few seconds. Yep, that's right. Not only does the year suddenly read 2008, but it's been less than a week since my last update! Amazing, right? It's a real shocker. I started dancing around like a crazy woman when I finished chapter 19 (because not only is this the LONGEST chapter yet, but it's also the chapter you've all been waiting for). But then I started getting dizzy from dancing, so I sat back down and..._

_Guess what?_

_I busted out chapters 20, 21, and a bit of 22. Holy cow, right? So, it shouldn't take me a month to update from now on! AHHHH! Oh my gosh. My power just went out! AHHHH that was scary. How odd...well, we have been having bizzarro storms out here in California...maybe a tree fell down? I dunno. Gosh, that's reassuring._

_Anyways, have fun reading while I go try to find some matches to light the candles in my room. (starts singing "Silent Night")_

_Oh, and, I think I said this last chapter, but Amelia and Lily are supposed to have the same last name! It's not a mistake._

_Also, Oops, I made a mistake last chapter. Dorcas is Seeker NOT Chaser…my bad._

_Musicshoes: Lily thinks it's bad to like James because of the bet because...well...it was a bet. Lily doesn't think he really likes her...she thinks he's just using her to win some money._

_Recap from last chapter: Lily found out how Quidditch in incorporated into the bet, James told Amelia that she was not going to join the team again even though she brought her T's up to P's, and James and Lily had something close to a"heart-to-heart" moment._

_Alright, now, I'll really shut my gab. Go delve into the adventure!_

* * *

**Chapter 19: Phase Six—Do it Like a Tipsy Cauldron**

How had her life become like this? Seventh year was supposed to be _her _year. She had been made Head Girl, her teachers loved her and would most likely write for her a great recommendation for any job she wanted, and Potter had even started out as…Godric forbid…helpful. Nowhere in her plans had she said that she would fall for the Head Boy, Quidditch captain, prankster galore.

And now, to top it all off, she had an angry fifth year girl stalking her, trying to trip her up so that she'd break an arm—or some other bone that was vital for playing Beater.

"No magic in the hallways! Detention, Amelia," Lily shouted, picking herself up from the ground with as much dignity as she could muster under the given circumstances. An effectively placed tripping jinx had been waiting for her right outside her defense classroom, and Lily knew it wasn't just coincidence that Amelia Evans had been standing nearby.

The fifth year snorted as if detention was nothing compared to the satisfaction of watching Lily, the girl who'd taken her spot on the team, suffer from some snapped bones and slight humiliation. "Detention, like that's anything new," she chortled sarcastically.

Lily stood up straighter, readjusting the bag on her shoulder. "With Filch," Lily finished, smirking as Amelia's face dropped. Filch had the reputation of being the worst administrator in the whole entire castle to endure a detention with; it probably had something to do with how he always wished bodily harm on the unlucky student, usually threatening to hang the kid from the ceiling by the thumbs until they swore never to cause mayhem again.

Of course, Lily was certain that that was perfectly illegal and that the chains that were rumored to hang from the ceiling in the dungeons hadn't been used since the sixteenth century.

"An owl will be sent to you with the time of your detention," Lily told the girl whose hand twitched as if she were about to give the Head Girl the finger. Naturally—not wanting to risk a double night in the greasy, and incredibly creepy, caretaker's company—Amelia's shoulders slouched and she stalked away.

Lily sighed before crossing the threshold into the classroom.

"Well, I'd say you handled that well."

Surprised that anyone else had bothered to show up early, Lily jumped and looked around the room. James was leaning against the doorframe casually—Lily wondered how she hadn't seen him before—smiling at her. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, even though frost could be found on the grass outside, and his arms were crossed across his chest.

"Yeah, well, it'll be a miracle if I'm still alive come Saturday," Lily said, walking further into the room and then turning around to face James.

He pushed himself up off of the wall and approached her. "I'd watch your back if I were you," James said, winking at her, "I heard—from a reliable source—that she plans on slipping something into your drink."

Lily shoved him. "You liar."

"Sirius doesn't lie."

Lily snorted derisively, but did not speak. She felt silence conveyed everything she wanted to say on this particular point. Hoisting herself up on a desk, she checked her watch. They still had a good five minutes before class even began. "So, what are you doing here so early?"

James shrugged, grabbing her wrist and kissing her cheek. Lily didn't even blush this time; it had become natural to let James do this to her. "Saw you leave breakfast and decided to follow you."

Yeah, right. He'd gotten there before her. She peered at him suspiciously. "And yet you were here before I was…"

"Fine, guilty."

"You usually are."

They smiled at each other and James had just begun to lean in when someone coughed loudly from behind them. "Oi, break it up," Sirius interrupted, throwing his bag down onto his chair with Remus and Peter in tow.

The two separated; James ruffled his hair. "So…" Lily began, supposing that she should be grateful that Sirius had interrupted whatever had been about to happen.

"What?" James asked innocently.

"What were you doing here so early?"

Sirius snorted, no doubt having eavesdropped into the conversation. Remus glanced between the two Head students before resuming his conversation with Peter.

As more people began to enter, James pulled her aside and lowered his voice. "Promise you won't tell," he urged her, his hand mussing up his hair again—hmm, maybe it was a nervous habit. He seemed to be doing it a lot lately.

Something dropped in Lily's stomach as she watched James anxious antics. What had happened? "Yeah, sure."

James glanced around at the class once more before pulling Lily even closer and saying. "I need extra credit."

_Excuse me? _Lily's eyes practically bugged out of her head. He'd gone through all the trouble, and had actually caused her to worry, just for that? All it meant was the he cared about his studies! What was wrong with that? Nevertheless, it was sort of…cute. "Extra credit?" she repeated.

"…yes."

"You prat," she exclaimed, slapping him on the arm.

Their professor entered the room and James dragged Lily back to the other side of the room where their friends were located. "Hey," he told her in an undertone as he took his seat, "I _do _have a reputation to live up to."

"Yeah, a mucked up one," she countered, pulling out her quill and textbook.

"At least I'm not the one that has Amelia Evans trying to kill me."

Lily glared at him. "She tried to push you into that trick step yesterday."

"That was sign of affection."

"I tried doing that at _least_ five times in fifth year," Lily responded as their teacher began writing notes up on the board.

"Like I said, sign of affection."

He grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and turned her face away from his, clearly telling him that she was not going to talk to him any further. As she monotonously copied down their professor's lecture, Lily decided that she liked how she and James could still be in a relationship of some sorts and still bicker about the most idiotic things.

It was fun, and she liked it.

OO

The day running up to the match was intense to say the least. Seeing as Lily never had to have dealt with this type of sabotage before, it was scarily intimidating. It was only ten o'clock in the morning on Friday and already Lily had survived three tripping jinxes which had been placed rather strategically throughout the castle (Amelia had received two more detentions for trying to damage the Head Girl), had ignored the jeers and cries from the green supporters, and had successfully stayed away from her drink at breakfast—just in case Black had been right and Amelia had spiked it with something.

It was safe to say that Hogwarts had erupted into chaos, or more so than what was normal. The Slytherins had been even more rambunctious than usual and had broken into the school broom shed and taken all of the Gryffindor brooms as hostages. Luckily McGonagall had caught them smuggling them back in while the rest of the school had been eating breakfast in the Great Hall. Rumor was that the culprits of the attack—three sixth years and two fifth—had been yelled at for ten consecutive minutes by the strict deputy headmistress and had even been banned from attending the game the next morning. Not to mention, of course, the complimentary two weeks of detention.

"Thickheads," Sirius had muttered darkly after the rumor had spread around the school, "if they had been smart, they would have levitated the brooms from outside into the castle."

Lily didn't bother asking how Sirius had this ready-made plan formed inside of that head of his.

Meanwhile, Sirius, Remus, and Peter never left James's side. Because he was captain, it was only natural to believe that he'd be a common first target. The three formed a circle around their mate all day, following him everywhere, their wands out and ready. The rest of Gryffindor's team had their respected friends' support too, and Marlene and Alice had taken it upon themselves to be Dorcas's and Lily's personal body guards. They even went into the bloody loo with them, but seeing as girls usually went to the bathroom in packs, it wasn't that odd. However, when the four girls caught the Marauders all exiting the boys' toilet together, they couldn't help but think about blackmail. It was weird that before she was actually on the team, Lily had never noticed all of the hype before a game.

So, needless to say, Friday wasn't the best of days for Lily Evans. Besides the death threats, the death attempts, and death wishes—pretty much anything to do with death in general—Lily also had the thought of James Potter hovering above her head, like the pesky poltergeist, Peeves, who would constantly pelt ink pellets and water balloons at students' heads. Every smile James shot her way, every reassuring sentence, every touch of his hand sent her into a panic attack. Well, maybe panic attack was the wrong idea…she liked how he made her feel, which made it so much harder to think about kicking him to the curb. The more time they spent together, the more she began to believe he liked her, and the more she didn't want to break this up.

It would be satisfaction enough to see Black lose…

…Perhaps she should let him win…

After all, no one was _that_ good of an actor.

OO

"Outta the way, move it," Sirius bellowed, shooing people out of his path. A few brave third year Slytherins hissed insults at the group as they passed.

"Is this really necessary, Padfoot?" James asked. The bottom of his cloak flew up slightly as two Ravenclaws rushed past, most likely late for their lesson. _Nerds_, he couldn't help but think, _well, they are in __Ravenclaw__ where 'wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure.' _He quickly shifted to his left slightly as one of them nearly stepped on the hem of his shield—preferably referred to as his cloak of disguise. It wouldn't be so good if they saw James Potter suddenly appear out of thin air like an apparition or something.

Yes, it was true. Sirius had made James wear his Invisibility Cloak in the hallways; well, more like forced the thing over his mate's head while threatening to use a permanently sticking charm on it to make sure it couldn't be removed. Needless to say, James hadn't had much say in the matter. Padfoot had almost forced him to wear it during classes as well, but that's where James had, quite bravely, put his foot down.

Well, except for Potions earlier that afternoon; Snape, Avery, and Mulciber were all in that class too (how exactly they had the brains to be in a N.E.W.T. potions class—or any N.E.W.T. class, come to think of it—was beyond James's brain capacity) and, really, it hadn't been like James had skived off the lesson. Being Head Boy that was a big no-no, not to mention Lily would have castrated him. He had been in the classroom…just invisibly. The Marauders had found it quite entertaining when Slughorn had taken roll call and a disembodied voice had answered "here."

"Maybe we are taking this to an extreme," Peter piped up as Sirius went around a corner first to make sure the coast was clear; James's opinion of Wormtail soared dramatically.

"Prongs, do you want to die?" Sirius asked in response to James's, and now Peter's, complaint about the cloak, completely ignoring Wormy, who 'humphed' in protest.

"That's not really the point –"

"Well, do you?"

"C'mon, Padf –"

"_Do you_?" he emphasized.

"Well, no, but I—"

"Then quit complaining, you wanker," he responded, sweeping his dark hair from his eyes.

"I would have thought," Remus began coyly from James's right, "that you would want Prongs to miss out on the game, what with all of the gold and dignity weighing on the sport."

Sirius pretended to be highly affronted. He placed his hand on his heart and glanced back at Moony. "What kind of person do you think I am?" he said incredulously. "Prongs is my best mate and I would never wish death upon him."

"Thanks for that, Pads," James responded from under the cloak. A fourth year Gryffindor looked wildly around…he had heard the Head Boy's voice, but the bloke was nowhere to be seen…nevertheless, the kid hid his fanged Frisbee behind his back as he passed.

The undercover dog reached out and patted what he thought to be James's left shoulder. A couple of first years began giggling as Sirius appeared to be patting nothing but thin air. "I'm here for you, mate," he said, ignoring the staring midgets. "Besides, I have full confidence that Prongs will lose."

Hidden underneath his silvery cloth, James bristled, indignant. Although he loved Sirius, his best mate could be so inconsiderate sometimes. Merlin, he even had him thinking like a bloody girl, talking about _feelings. _"You sure do know how to bring a guy up," James said sarcastically, sticking out an invisible foot and causing Sirius to stumble.

"Isn't it kind of wrong to be rooting for Slytherin?" Peter asked, holding the door to the library open. Once inside James ripped off his cloak—after making sure no one else was watching of course—and stuffed it into his bag. Surely no Slytherins would be in the library today—they hardly ever went into it at all. That's why the Marauders had picked this specific spot as their safe haven.

"Gryffindor through and through?" Remus questioned further, a slight smirk flickering across his face.

"My eternal partners in crime, I am not cheering Slytherin on; merely, I'm hoping that some bad luck befalls upon my young prodigy, here," Sirius explained, putting his arm around James and slapping his back affectionately.

They all took a seat at the very back of the library. "Same difference, Padfoot," James mumbled.

"Aw, don't be such a sodding poor sport," Sirius countered.

Peter rolled his eyes, propping his feet up onto the table in an attempt to appear cool. "It amazes me that you go through such lengths just to win five galleons," he began, rocking his chair on its two back legs. The chair wobbled and Peter almost lost his balance.

"Like you need money anyways," Remus continued as Peter put all four of his chair's legs back onto the floor. "Didn't your great uncle just leave you a whole vault of gold?"

"Yeah, but we all know Padfoot, here, is saving it up to buy that Muggle motorbike," James smirked.

Sirius rubbed his hands together in glee, as if he were planning something highly entertaining and devious. "Oh, that will drive my dear parents mad. Their Pureblood son riding around on a Muggle contraption…I can hear the Howler now," he chuckled, as if he were laughing at his own personal joke. "Although, they might like it if I got it to fly…but anyway, every knut counts!" Sirius placed his hands behind his head and attempted to lean back in his chair just like Peter had done earlier. Ironically, Sirius had much more cool. Perhaps it was the casual elegance of his hair. "They've probably already destroyed my Muggle infested bedroom," he added as an afterthought.

The four boys chuckled, knowing that Sirius had done everything in his power to annoy the robes off of his parents whilst he had lived under their roof: the non-Wizard pictures of Muggle bikini-clad girls, the Gryffindor colors that hung from every inch of wall space, and the pictures of the four of them—James was surprised that his best mate's parents hadn't suffered from a cardiac arrest really.

"But, back to the point," Sirius commenced, staring at James, "Evans has been onto you."

A book suddenly fell from the bookshelf behind them, causing the four of them to jump. Sirius whipped out his wand, ready to hex the eaves-dropper (potentially a good for nothing Slytherin). James rolled his eyes. Honestly, it was just Quidditch. This happened every time there was a game, and ever since third year his friends had taken it as their sole responsibility to protect James at all costs. Really, they should be used to this by now. James wasn't nearly as paranoid as his friends.

"I know," James sighed, choosing to ignore the mysterious falling book as he responded to his friend's thoughts on Evans, "she's so bloody annoying."

His eyes still trained on the offensive bookshelf, Sirius spun his wand menacingly between his fingertips. "Well, you'll be shot of her soon enough."

"But I need to win this year—not saying that Evans is bad mind you," James pointed out. Something red caught his eye and James focused on it. He watched as Lily Evans strode out of the library, books held to her chest and her head held high.

"She's just not as good as Amelia," Remus suggested wisely, nodding.

James looked at Remus. "Exactly."

They all jumped as Sirius clapped his hands together joyfully, creating a surprisingly loud sound that echoed off the surrounding bookshelves. "And that, my friends, is where Prongs' problem lies…you better not have spent all of your money last Hogsmeade trip, because I'm expecting five galleons tomorrow."

Smirking, James pushed the legs of Sirius's chair with his feet, causing it and Sirius to tumble to the floor. Sirius swore, James laughed, Peter made sure he was alright, and Remus cowered as the librarian began shrieking about disruptive behavior and how it was not acceptable in her part of the castle.

OO

Now, Lily was having a panic attack. Her breathing was uneven, her hair was a mess, and her fist was clutching that bloody Quidditch card so tightly that it was beginning to cut into her hand. The pain didn't really register and she didn't even really notice that she was accidentally self-mutilating herself until Dorcas said very calmly, "Lily, you're bleeding."

Her emerald eyes shot up and her chest heaved with much more force than she could ever imagine it having done so before. "I. Hate. James. Potter."

Loathing so incredible was pulsing through Lily; James had finally turned her loopy. Here she was, usually such a calm, collected type of girl—maybe a little bit temperamental at times, but regardless!—and now she was practically cutting herself with a blunt piece of laminated plastic. It had always been a matter of time, really, until Potter drove her to the mad house! And to think she had actually believed that she liked him…that _he _had begun to fancy _her_.

Preposterous!

James couldn't wait to get rid of her. The little conversation between Black and Potter had made that much pretty obvious. _Not saying that Evans is bad, mind you_. Argh, that conniving, perverted, evil little…Quidditch player! What did that mean? That he didn't mind having her around because of her body? Her lips? Her _what? _Merlin! He was so…he was so…egotistical!

_I._

_Hate._

_James._

_Potter._

"Look, Lily, breathe," Marlene insisted, rubbing the redhead's back soothingly. Lily scoffed. "Come on, now, you've got the upper hand."

"The upper hand? _The upper hand_?" Lily repeated wildly. "Bloody Potter has had the upper hand the whole time! I've just had…the lower hand!"

Great, Potter had successfully ruined her brain process too.

"Maybe Marlene is right, Lily," Alice said timidly from the corner. Lily spun her head so quickly that everyone in the dorm winced as something cracked. How dare Alice—how dare Marlene—they didn't know what she was going through! They didn't know that she had fallen for James Potter! For Godric's sake, she _did not_ have the bleeding upper hand at anything.

"Take this out on him," Dorcas added softly, "play brilliantly tomorrow. Show him what you're made of."

Lily's chest continued to heave violently, her jaw tight. However, her grip around his gift that he'd given her loosened. First the pinky…then the index finger…With a tingling clatter it fell to the floor. Her friends watched it teeter before falling flat and lying still.

"You know what you have to do—you know what you _want _to do," Marlene commented, tapping Lily's hand with her wand, causing the small slash in her palm to heal.

"Ring Potter's neck until he can't—" Lily made brutal motions with her hands.

Alice walked away from her corner slowly. Lily stared. Had she really scared her friends that much? Reducing them to hide in shady corners? This was all the illegal stag's fault! Stupid stags…she knew she hated those dumb creatures. How she wished she could just…be done with him!

"Phase six," Alice stated shortly.

Phase…? Lily's tense body slowly began to ease. Hadn't this been the plan from the start? To get revenge on James Potter? It had to be some sort of sign that at the moment she was planning to allow him to win, he went and blew it, causing her to want to hurt him once more.

That's how it always seemed to go with her and Potter.

Besides, with phase six, she'd finally be able to end this.

"It's cauldron time," Lily said slightly menacingly, bending down and picking up the fallen Quidditch gift card.

Her friends looked at her like she was crazy. Merlin, she was alright now! What she had said had made perfect sense, thanks very much!

"Er…what?" Marlene asked.

"Dump him, you know, like when you dump your potion when you're done with it," Lily explained. Honestly, her friends were so slow sometimes…

Glances went around the room. "Right…are you sure you're okay?" Alice asked worriedly, afraid for her friend's mental health.

Great, just another thing to add to her list of reasons she hated James Potter; he'd made her friends believe that she was some insane woman who blabbered on about cauldrons.

"Yeah, because we've got a game tomorrow and a group of Slytherins to crush," Dorcas broke in.

Quidditch…Saturday…Potter.

"Never better," Lily responded and she placed the Quidditch card securely in her robes quite calmly.

OO

"Alright, so, this is our second match of the year, and though it may not seem important, it is. This match determines who goes into the semi-finals against Hufflepuff, one step closer to that Quidditch cup."

The team cheered enthusiastically. Lily sat in between Dorcas and Robbie on one of the team benches. Like the rest of the team, she was staring up at James, their captain. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but other than that she gave no indication that she was upset, or angry, or a raving mad lunatic. The sounds of the rest of the school making their way to the pitch could be heard outside of their tent. Students were talking merrily about who they thought would win the match.

The majority of the bet was on Gryffindor.

No pressure or anything.

Besides, if Lily wanted to go through with phase six, like she planned, then they had to win. There was no other choice.

"Now, Ravenclaw has already been booted out of the running. If we beat Slytherin today, getting into the finals will be a synch, considering Hufflepuff hasn't changed their lineup since my fifth year, and we've beaten them every year."

Everyone cheered again, though James wasn't done yet.

"Now, we've got a wonderful Keeper who hasn't failed us yet," James was saying as he pointed to Daniel Sparks, who grinned abashed. "Our Seeker never fails to spot the Snitch," Dorcas smiled proudly, "We Chasers work together better than any other team, as for the Beaters…I know we've had a bit of rough spot, but I have full confidence that Evans and Botley will play brilliantly…"

Yeah, Lily thought, because I'll be imagining the Bludger as your head! James looked over at her and she smiled sweetly back up at him. _Take that you completely not handsome __nor__ muscular Chaser! _

A shrill whistle blew outside of the changing rooms and the excitement level immediately increased. Lily knew that her blind hatred for her captain was the sole reason for her lack of nerves. That could only be a good thing.

"Good luck, team!" James called, shouldering his broom as he began to lead his team out onto the field.

Bloody broom…stupid Potter has to have the best broom…and no, he totally does not look good in his idiotic Quidditch gear!

The team stepped onto the pitch.

It was as if someone had put her into a trance. Though she could see that the crowd was cheering wildly—or hissing when it came to the Slytherin section—Lily was immune to it. It was like someone had hit the mute button on her Muggle television set back at home. She watched as James (imbecile Potter!) squared off against the Slytherin captain—Mulciber—and clenched the bloke's hand. They glared daggers at each other before Madame Hooch forced the two to separate.

Still no sound. She knew things were bad when she wished for a Slytherin to crush a Gryffindor's fingers...

"Players, mount your broom."

All fourteen of the players straddled their broomsticks. The wood rubbed familiarly against her inner thigh. Suddenly, Lily's nerves caught back up with her. She was going to be sick. She just knew it. How would that be for a start off? Lily Evans, the newbie and Head Girl, blowing chunks all over the pitch?

Pleasant.

Madame Hooch brought her whistle to her lips with one hand while the other hand got ready to unlatch the crate where the balls resided. In that split second before the balls were released, James looked back at Lily and nodded. Maybe he had noticed that her face was slightly green because he grinned shortly and winked.

Lily didn't respond. Instead, she tried to clear her head of bad thoughts about falling fifty feet to her death.

"Let the game…begin!"

Lily felt Mary Macdonald rush past her, racing for the Quaffle that had been thrown up into the air by Hooch. Raising her bat, Lily rose higher as well. To her left she spotted James calling for Mary to pass to him; to her right Dorcas was tailing Regulus Black, the rather small and new Slytherin Seeker.

"And they're off," Sirius called from the commentating podium. "Place your wagers, mates, because this game has just begun! And it's Macdonald with the Quaffle…passes it to Potter…ohhh, intercepted by Shimps…rotten luck mate—" Though Lily thought that Sirius didn't sound that disappointed at all.

_He wants us to lose. We have to win…we have to win._

It was just like practice, Lily kept reminding herself as she tore after a Bludger that was following Dorcas too closely for her liking. A few feet below her Mark Botley hit the other magical ball, which caused Shimps to drop the Quaffle.

"Nice Beater work by Botley…Robbie tears down the pitch with the Quaffle…passes it to Prong—I mean Potter. Score! And that's ten-nil to Gryffindor. Come on Slytherin, where's your game?"

Lily, by now, had ridden up alongside the offending Bludger that had been trailing Dorcas. Her first encounter with the evil little bugger…well in a game, anyways. She swung her bat backwards and—WHAM!—hit it with all of her might.

"Thanks, Lily!" Dorcas cried.

Smiling proudly, Lily looked for the next thing she could hit. It was rather empowering. Unfortunately for her, she realized too late that the Bludger she had hit away from Dorcas had been sent straight into the path of Mary. Lily winced as the ball hit the tail-end of Mary's broom, spinning her out of control for a few seconds, the red ball flying from her hands.

"And that was Evans—the new player on the team! Thanks, Evans," Sirius called, tipping his imaginary hat off to her. "And it's Nott with the Quaffle."

Lily swore to herself as the supporters clad in green began cheering wildly, like a huge surge of noise.

"Ten-ten. It's a tied match!"

Thirty minutes later, the score was in Gryffindor's favor again but just barely. Eighty-sixty. The Snitch had only been spotted once, but Lily had sent a Bludger flying, knocking the Slytherin Seeker—who'd been in the lead—off course. The Snitch had since disappeared. On the plus side, Lily was playing better and better and Gryffindor was currently in the lead.

That had to be a good sign, right?

Wrong. Ten minutes later, Slytherin was in the lead by ten points and Lily had just missed being clobbered by a Bludger that she had meant to hit in the opposing direction.

Twenty minutes later and the whole stadium could be found on their feet, watching the two opposing Seeker's ardently. Though she desperately wanted to see what was going on, the play didn't stop for the team members, so Lily was forced to listen to Black's two-faced commentary for updates on the Snitch chase.

"Meadowes is pulling ahead…flutter, flutter Snitch! Little Reggy is right behind her…come on push that broom, push that broom!"

Black didn't make it clear if he was rooting for Dorcas or the Slytherin Seeker, which happened to be his brother. The audience just assumed that he was going for Dorcas because she belonged to Gryffindor. Not to mention the clear animosity between the two brothers. Lily however knew that he was most likely urging Regulus on…weird, really weird. Black couldn't stand his family. Merlin, they took their bets too far…

_Come on, __Dorcas__, come on_she urged as she continued to hunt the skies for two balls whose goal was to hit people. _Go, go, __go_It all came down to this. The match was so close…

And then, suddenly, just as Lily had stopped Mulciber from scoring, a noise so loud nearly blew her backwards off her broom.

"Gryffindor wins, 300-170" Sirius announced, with a lot less of his gusto than normal.

The Gryffindor spectators were going nuts, throwing their scarves up into the air, or waving them around like a banner. Slytherin was booing loudly, but were unable to overcome the cheers of the three other houses.

"We won!"

Someone collided into Lily, their brooms smashing together in a heap as they descended to the ground. Lily's face was masked by a mass of blonde curls; Dorcas had rammed into her. Lily grinned secretly at her friend as Dorcas practically pulled Lily off of her broom once they'd hit ground. Still clutched tightly in her friend's hand was the golden Snitch, its wings fluttering helplessly.

Relief flooded through Lily. They had won. She had done it. Dorcas had done it.

"Lily!"

Potter had done it.

James picked her up and spun her around. "We're going to the semi-finals!" he shouted. Then, amidst all of the people—for most of the school had flooded the pitch—he set her down and kissed her hard on the mouth. She could practically feel Dorcas's eyes burning into her back, wondering what she was going to do.

_Holy Merlin…I'm about to break up with him!_

She placed her hand on the back of his neck and kissed him back.

It was odd how stuff like that happened. And it wasn't that she was no longer mad at him. No, on the contrary she was furious; furious with him for stringing her along, making her think that she actually mattered to him; mad that he had even made the bet in the first place; she was angry with herself for allowing her to fall into that stupid trap. But most off all she was infuriated with the fact that she didn't know why she was still standing there wrapped up in his arms.

Wolf whistles—thanks to Black—met them as James pulled back, grinning. His hair was windswept and his cheeks were pink with cold. She cocked her head to the side; he looked—

_Stop, brain! Stop! He's despicable._

Marlene and Alice, having pushed their way through the crowd, each touched Lily quickly on the shoulder as Dorcas continued to stare at Lily gently. She nodded back, indicating that she was alright.

After all, she did hate him.

OO

The music was pumping and when the team entered—James's hand intertwined with Lily's—everyone assembled there cheered. There were many 'congratulations' and 'well done's' exchanged as butterbeer was passed around. Sirius, Remus, and Peter approached James and Lily.

"Who would have thought," Sirius said, shrugging and pulling a face that looked like something between a grimace and a grin.

"You were good, Lily," Remus complimented, smiling.

She knew she had always liked Remus best…well, when he wasn't interrogating her about whether or not she'd told anybody about his 'furry little problem' that is.

Nodding, Lily said, "Thanks."

James pulled her closer and Lily glanced at him quickly. There was a slight gleam to his hazel eyes, as if he was holding a secret with himself. "Excuse us, mates," he said to his fellow Marauders, setting down the bottle of butterbeer someone had shoved into his hand. "Let's dance," he added, leading Lily towards the dance floor without giving her time to respond.

It reminded her of earlier that year, after the first match, when James had pulled her onto the very same spot. He had urged her to dance with him then; she had blown him off. Back then he had repulsed her…well, she guessed he still kind of did.

No, he most definitely did.

As they bypassed the three boys, Sirius quickly reached his hand into his pocket and withdrew a couple things from it. Lily could have sworn she saw a glint of gold. As James pulled Lily by the hand, Sirius shoved the stuff from his pocket into James's free one, muttering about luck. She swore she heard Black mumble, "down payment" into James's ear as well.

If Lily hadn't of known about the bet, she wouldn't have caught it for it was done so subtly. In one quick moment, James had successfully stuffed the money into his pocket while still maintaining a firm grip on Lily. Sirius had just handed over the winnings to James—or, more technically, a 'down payment.' Did he just assume that, because of the kiss on the Quidditch pitch, they were together? Or maybe he thought there was no way Lily would say no, seeing as she and his best mate had gotten pretty close.

A bubble of anger burst and it was hard not to shy away when James placed his hand on her waist. It took even more will-power to put her arms around his neck.

"Lily," he began, wasting no time—psh, why did he care? He already had the gold. He could take all the time in the world if he wanted to. "I've wanted to ask you this for some time now…"

Over his shoulder, Lily could see her three friends eyeing her wearily. Once they saw the she was looking at them, however, they gave her a thumbs up.

_This was it. _

"…well, I mean, I've asked you a couple times before, but I think now—"

She didn't know where she got her courage from (well, she could have blamed it on the cliché 'Gryffindor courage…where dwell the brave at heart' but that seemed somewhat pathetic). As she watched him she couldn't believe that she'd actually fallen for his charm, especially since she had known all along that this had just been a bet to him! Her confidence rose, as did her anger. This is what the past few months had led up to.

"James…you're rambling again," she pointed out.

He grinned at her and spun her around his arm. Her heart was pounding against her chest. "Go out with me, Lily?" he asked her quietly.

His eyes were shining brightly—no doubt with the prospect of winning in mind—when Lily dropped her arms from his neck. "No."

The spark in his eyes was still there, though the smile that had been present was slowly slipping away. "W-what?" he stuttered.

The music was still blasting, and everyone was having too much of a good time to realize that their Quidditch star was being denied by his Beater.

"No, Potter," she said again, taking a step back from him.

He was shaking his head in disbelief. "Are you joking?" he asked her seriously his voice a bit squeakier than normal.

_Ha. You lost, Potter_.

In response, she reached into her robes and pulled out the card he'd given her. "Here," she handed it to him and he clasped it in his sweaty palms. "I don't want it." He was trying hard not to gape at her.

_'Are you joking?'_Merlin, the boy was so arrogant that he hadn't even thought of the prospect of her saying no. And there was the James Potter that she loved to dislike. That's what made this so great…Right?

James looked like he wanted to punch something, much like Amelia Evans looked like now glaring at Lily from across the room because the redhead had actually played well. Lily watched as his jaw tightened dangerously and his hands closed around the card.

"Fine," he said shortly.

Lily scoffed and crossed her arms. That's all he had to say? Well, she supposed that since he really didn't care for her he wasn't going to beg her to stay, though she had expected a bigger fight to go down. He was going to accept his loss just like that?

His eyes made a weird, rapid movement as he looked to either side of him, and without another word he walked away, back towards his friends where he'd most likely have to give Sirius back his money and then hand over five galleons of his own. Everything had turned out how it was meant to.

Hadn't it?

As soon as he was hidden behind the dancing bodies of the party, Lily's shoulders dropped and she sighed heavily. It was over. For some reason, this didn't have the same type of satisfaction that Lily had imagined.

* * *

_Wow. I have a feeling people are gonna shout at me after this chapter...well, I'm gonna go find some candles, flashlights, food, and...hmmm...whatever else I need to survive in the pitch black._

_Hopefully I'll see you all in a week or so. Thanks again to Sunny. Go on, give her a wave!_

**Next chapter:**_ Things start to go back to normal, including James and Lily going at each other's throats, we have an encounter with our favorite werewolf, and detentions are handed around...ohhh what fun._

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_

**PS**_—Just realized I can't post this while my power is out…power outage means internet outage. I'll post this once my power comes back on…which will hopefully be soon…jeezum._


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer:** _Si j'etais J.K. Rowling, je serait tres riche! Mais, je suis pauvre. Oh la la. Hey, who says you can't practice your French online? And, if you're French, I'm terribly sorry if I totally butchered that. lol_

**A/N:** _Ahhh! I feel like Draco Malfoy just Stunned me and Harry Potter Rennervated me. lol I don't even know if that analogy made sense, but seriously, YOU ARE ALL THE MOST AMAZING PEOPLE EVERRR! Thanks a million zillion to: Claudita, beinginfinite, Mrs.YoungRoseRamone, A. Fan, dollarbanks, lilbit18, Red n Black Roses, Angeleyes274, novella07, Ali Keys, serenity12345, LyLMystikeLf, Chocolate Chip Cookie, braveatheart, pigs can fly, Cookies94, Sprut, Moon Comix, -Jeisa-, vintage bluejeans, Bellas-lullaby, Mrs Claire Potter, grayx3eyedsoul, Cristipotter, ForgiveButNeverForget, soccerxpotterxlife, MusicShoes, potterlady4691, A-Lady, FollowMyLead, berniebotts, TheHorcruxHunter, LILYandJAMESareCUTE, aChocoholic, siabrach, zozotheterrible, Yay-Watermelons, TwinkieTUTUS, chili's-girl, IHeartJamesPotter, loonysango, stardust718, C San, Quiver, PrimaDi88, scribbles.pooksta, coffee dessert, tin-tin456, mae garnder, Lilybet Edyvean, and Princess Gillybean._

_So, I've realized that I've gotten into a habit of writing incredibly long author's notes, so this one will be almost non-existent. Anyways, nothing exciting has gone on in my life in the past week that I could talk about. lol _

_Real quick. I thought I'd respond to two questions/comments brought up last chapter.  
1) Personally, I don't think Lily over-reacted to the conversation she overheard in the library between the Marauders. I mean, she had just made up her mind that James really did like her, and then she hears him saying that he can't wait to get rid of her. Man, he should consider himself lucky that she didn't Avada Kedavra him right there and then. lol  
2) Hmm. Yes, James did accept his loss a bit too quickly, didn't he? Sorry, can't say much more on that particular subject. _

_Okay, so have fun reading! _

* * *

**Chapter 20: Winner at a Losing Game**

It was done. Everything had gone back to normal, for better or for worse. In Potter's case, normalcy wasn't turning out to be such a positive thing, though, if the past six years hadn't been any indication, most things weren't taken into a positive light when it came to James Potter. With the bet now finished, he had no one to impress in order to win over and thus had immediately regressed back to his Marauding days. In fact, two days after he had lost the bet to Sirius, he and Black had landed themselves in detention for bewitching two suits of armor up on the fourth floor to insult anyone who dared pass them. That must have been a new record or something.

In classes, as in the hallways, his attention-seeking, noise-making schemes were…creative at best; it appeared that James's way of dealing with loss was to create as much havoc as he possibly could.

It was unfortunate that most of this distress was channeled out of his system by harassing Lily. The boy was doing his best to make her life a living hell. Though Potter denied it countless of times, Lily knew it was he who had placed that firework in her cauldron, causing her potion to erupt all over herself and Slughorn, who had been about to give her an Outstanding mark. So certain was her belief that she would prepare to put money on it, but then that would be considered a bet and she had come to seriously dislike bets.

"Bloody Potter," Lily snarled savagely, siphoning the sticky Draught of Happiness concoction off of her robes. She watched as, a few feet ahead, Sirius high-fived James. Even that little gesture made Lily want to shove her wand right up their—

"And to think," Dorcas began with a laugh, "that you were—" she broke off almost immediately, glancing at Marlene who had given her a warning look and a subtle stomp on the toes.

Lily stiffened, though continued to walk like nothing was wrong, pocketing her wand now that she was fully clean of the mess. _Cheers,__ Potter._ "That I was what, Dorcas?" she asked casually, keeping her voice neutral.

"Nothing," Alice finished for Dorcas a little too quickly.

"Yeah, nothing," Dorcas confirmed, her eyes darting from ceiling to floor. Wow, her friends were _awful _liars.

Psh, nothing her buttocks. She knew what Dorcas had been about to say. Ever since they had found Lily in her dorm after the Quidditch party, staring quite intently at the wall, Lily had caught her friends countless times whispering amongst each other; any conversation would immediately cease once they saw that their friend had entered the room. They had also gotten into a habit of not mentioning Potter's name, first or last, whilst in the redhead's presence. It was very annoying. It wasn't like Lily had actually—she shook her head, continuing to lead the way towards the great hall for lunch.

Something big, black, and incredibly chaotic caught Lily's eyes from up ahead as James's head of hair disappeared around a corner; Lily didn't even _want_ to try to imagine what he and his friends could be up to now. There had been more pranks pulled in this castle in the time span of a week than in all of her years at Hogwarts.

And that was saying something considering that pranks, courtesy of the Marauders, had become somewhat of expected, and even anticipated, events amongst the majority of Hogwarts' population.

Actually, now that Lily thought about it, the only thing that was slightly out of place that stopped things from being completely normal in her life was that James no longer asked her out—not that she missed it, mind. In fact, he didn't even speak to her unless absolutely necessary. Those crucial times usually came under the heading of causing her humiliation or contradicting her in lessons.

So idiotic. At least his maturity level had gone back to his standard so he had some kind of an excuse.

Marlene and Dorcas sat down on either side of her at the Gryffindor table while Alice sat across from her. It was as if they had strategically placed themselves so no Marauder could come into close proximity to Lily, which is why Lily convulsed horridly and upset her goblet of pumpkin juice as a horribly familiar voice called out, "Quidditch practice, Evans, tonight. Do be more graceful on a broom than you were in potions today."

James didn't even turn his head to look at her. Sirius gave a bark of laughter while Peter giggled appreciatively as well. Remus simply looked at Lily and shook his head in a disappointed fashion.

Pricks, the lot of them.

"Well, at least my broom will be able to lift off of the ground, unlike yours. What, with that big head of yours…" Lily shot back, not wanting to give Potter any type of satisfaction whatsoever as she blatantly ignored the fact that they were within two feet of each other.

That was another thing that had gone back to normal; the abandonment of first names, as well as the constant bickering and use of insults. In a very scary way, Lily half-wished that she had continued going with the dare, just so Potter wouldn't be so annoying.

Now that was a creepy thought indeed. Her stomach seemed to swoop. She ferociously ignored it.

"Clever, Evans, come up with that on your own, did you?" James shot back; Remus was tugging on his arm.

"Like you're one to talk; I bet you need your friends' arms to help get dressed in the morning, the way your mind works."

Sirius turned and fixed Lily with a stare; there was something…Satanic in his eyes. Fire was blazing…or was it mischief? "Maybe if you had six extra arms you could actually hit the Bludger," he remarked, winking.

Lily gaped, fists clenched. How dare he continue to try to psyche her out when the bet was finished! "And I would check your socks if I were you before you talk about anyone else's dressing habits," James finished, before plopping himself in a flurry on a bench a couple feet away.

Wwwhatt? She swung her head around to face her friends, Marlene still glancing from James to Lily at a loss as to what had just transpired…or, more accurately, stunned to see them fighting, the likes of which hadn't been seen by Hogwarts' population for nearly half a year.

"_What_ was _that_ about?" Lily asked, pretending to be clueless, like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Which, last year, wouldn't have been so unusual at all.

Dorcas shrugged, grabbing a sandwich. "Beats me…but, hey, practice tonight."

Bullocks. Quidditch? Tonight? It would be the first practice since the incident (or, as her friends had begun to call it, 'the-night-that-Potter-died-and-was-reborn-as-an-arse-per-usual'). Having to deal with Potter barking orders left and right for an hour and a half was not something that she was particularly looking forward to.

Well, at least he hadn't kicked her off the team.

She glanced over at Potter. Trying to be subtle, she took a peek down at her socks.

Holy great-grandmother of Merlin. What had happened to the white socks she'd put on that morning? And, more importantly, why was she wearing one green sock and one glittery silver one? She didn't even own glittery silver socks.

"Potter!"

OO

The shrill noise of a whistle stopped the practice for about the fifth time that evening. Lily groaned, as did everyone else—though the other team members were less upfront about their displeasure. For the love of Quidditch, couldn't they go five minutes without that bloody disruption? Gritting her teeth, Lily prepared herself for the worst as Potter, predictably, began flying towards her, his voice echoing off of the surrounding mountains. Of course he was going to comment on her, because that's what he'd been doing ever since practice had begun!

Bloody wanker.

"_What_ was _that_, Evans?" he asked harshly, pulling to a stop beside her and talking about something or another that she must have obviously done wrong. Seriously, how someone could hit a Bludger wrong was beyond her.

She met his gaze and was surprised he was coming within five inches of her, to be honest, considering she had a very heavy—and lethal if need be—bat in her hand. He may be a twat, but he had guts. Or maybe he was just stupid.

"I thought it was obvious," Lily shot back, "that was your whistle stopping play, again."

No one dared to laugh at Lily's smart comeback this time. Not after James had made Mark Botley take five laps—by foot, not broom—five minutes previously for chuckling after Lily had called James a "big head on a stick." The team now knew not to mess with their irate and agitated captain, something that they had begun to blame Lily for.

"Two laps for your smart mouth, Evans," James said.

"Well, that explains why you haven't had to do any yet," Lily began, unable to stop herself, "everything that comes out of your mouth is nothing but useless, unintelligent garbage."

Lily watched with sick satisfaction as blood began rushing to James's head, his anger finally over-riding his attempted cool. It appeared that mocking James's smarts, and his sport, were bad ideas. "That's it. Practice is done for you, Evans. Get off my pitch," he bellowed. He whipped out his wand so fast that it was nothing more than a blur and, a split second later, Lily felt her Beater's bat being ripped from her right hand.

How dare he use force with her! In another instant she had her wand out and the two were suspended in mid-air, straddling their broomsticks, glaring daggers at each other.

"Give it back," she demanded of him, waving her wand.

"No."

"Yes."

She didn't really know what she was planning to do once she had gotten her wand out. It had mainly been an empty threat, because, being Head Girl, she could not hex her fellow Head Boy—no matter how much she resented him.

Maybe if no one was looking...

"It's mine," she fought back.

"Who's the captain?" he taunted and Lily was reminded unpleasantly of when he'd been shouting at Amelia Evans. Prat, he'd probably done that on purpose just to make her remember how she'd come to be on this team in the first place. Potter was invading her mind!

"This is ridiculous," Dorcas finally announced from the side-lines, flying forwards and stopping in between the Beater and the Chaser like a human barrier. "You," she declared, turning to face James, "are a prick."

"At least it's better than being a _lousy_ Beater," James retorted quickly, eyes flashing.

"Why, you little—"

Mary Macdonald screamed shortly, probably out of surprise, as Lily practically launched herself off of her broom, across Dorcas, and over to Potter. She could only imagine how comical it had to look to the onlookers. The only reason she didn't quite make it was the fact that Dorcas had grabbed her shoulders and restrained her, forcing her friend back onto her broom. James was holding his wand out in front of him, staring wide eyed at the redhead, shocked that she had attempted to cause him bodily harm.

"I could give you a detention," James snarled, brandishing his wand about; a couple of red sparks flew out the end of it.

Lily's eyes narrowed, her chest rising and falling heavily with every breath as she strained against her friend's strong grip. "And I could give you one!" she retorted as Daniel Sparks smacked his robes to put out the spark that had landed on his sleeve.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Ten more seconds went by as the two Head students simply glared at each other like there was no tomorrow. And, to think no one was bursting into flames? Amazing! Determined not to let Lily win this little staring contest, James chucked the Quaffle he'd been holding under his arm at Robbie Tyler—rather forcefully—before putting his whistle to his lips and blowing it shortly once again.

Prat! He'd done that on purpose! He'd nearly blown her eardrum out!

"Back in formation, everyone."

The team, minus Lily, Dorcas, and James zoomed off to their original positions almost instantly. "Evans, you're dismissed," he added, his face red and jaw set. And, finally drawing his eyes from her face, and without a backward glance, he flew off to join his two other Chasers while levitating Lily's confiscated Beater's bat to the ground with his wand.

She was still breathing heavily, reminding her unpleasantly of one of those bulls at a Muggle rodeo show her dad used to like watching, as she began to descend with Dorcas at her side. "Dim-witted twit," she was muttering, her wand twitching in her fingers.

"Lily, don't let him get to you," Dorcas soothed in an undertone.

Lily snorted. Potter? Get to her? "Over my dead body."

Dorcas glanced at her friend. "Look, maybe we should just go up to the dorms, maybe sneak some hot chocolate from the kitchens—"

"Meadowes, where are you going?" James's voice called from above, the sound of him cutting through Lily like she'd just walked straight through the Bloody Baron. Shiver. It was always awkward when she accidently walked _through _a ghost. For goodness sakes, couldn't they ever watch where they were going? She supposed being dead for so many years had addled their—

Oh, this was all beside the point.

The blonde glanced upwards at the practice that was now resuming play. They were all gathered in a circle, playing a game of fast-paced catch. Dorcas looked torn. Lily knew she was caught between wanting to make sure her friend was alright or obeying her captain and going back to the team.

Lily sighed. "Go ahead, it's alright," she said, motioning with her hand for Dorcas to rejoin the group, wishing she could go along as well. At the same time, however, Lily was content to get as far away from James Potter as possible.

"Are you sure—"

"Of course," Lily affirmed, interrupting her friend. "Besides," she continued, glancing at James out of the corner of her eye who had just made a spectacular catch (he was so helpless, really), "I would hate for you to have to suffer Potter's _terrifying_ wrath as well." 

_"_I could kick his buttocks and then chuck his broom half-way across Europe before he'd even noticed the pain in his arse," the blonde Seeker responded confidently, trying to make Lily feel better. She grinned at Lily, who smiled back despite her anger. Dorcas always had a way with words…and a way with spotting the Snitch, which is why Lily wanted her up there and not down on the grass with her. "Thanks, Lily," she said gratefully, patting her friend on the arm, before flying back up to her team mates.

Honestly, Lily didn't mind that her friend had gone back to Quidditch. Besides, she felt like being alone, perhaps she could get some homework done…She hopped off of her broom and threw it into the school shed before heading back up to the castle. As she walked through the double entrance doorway, Lily didn't realize how cold it had truly been out there. Her fingers started tingling, the sensation that usually accompanied a dramatic change in temperature, as the heat from the lit torches along the walls began to defrost her fingertips.

Godric, how she hated James Potter. He was so obnoxious. Her footsteps slapped against the stone floor, echoing off of the walls and ceiling; the hallway was rather deserted. Apparently dinner was finished and everyone was either in the common rooms, the library, or detention. ...Stupid Potter. What gave him the right to correct her about everything? She had been playing fine! Though she'd only been a Quidditch player for less than three months, she knew that she hadn't done anything wrong! He was just trying to make her life intentionally hard.

Hey, but what else was new?

However, even she had to admit that their fighting hadn't been this bad before the bet, even in fifth year when they were quite possibly at their worst with each other. He had always been tolerable, just a little annoying.

Stupid bet.

She began ascending the main staircase her thoughts lingering on her and Potter's arguments during the practice. Just because he was captain did not give him the right to—"

"Hey!" Lily shouted in surprise as someone grabbed her around her upper arm and dragged her through a concealed passageway hidden behind a tapestry of four warlocks playing cards. Blast it! Her arm was starting to go numb! Whoever was holding her was grasping her hard! It surely wasn't a friendly sign…Her heart was thumping against her chest as she reached into her Quidditch robes and extracted her wand.

Brainless, really, that the bloke hadn't tried to disarm her.

"Impedimenta," Lily cried, pointing her wand at the general area of where her captor should be. Well, at least that's where she hoped she was pointing…it was rather dark in this hidden passageway.

There was a yelp of pain. Aha, her aim at been true. Her kidnapper instantly relinquished his hold on her as her offender flew back into the opposite wall out of shock. "Ouch! What the—"

A male's voice. So, it was a guy. It was a very familiar voice. Lily's heart skipped a beat. "Remus?"

"What was that for?" Remus hissed, and in the darkness Lily could just make out the Marauder pushing himself away from the wall, shuddering with pain.

"You just jump out at me, take me hostage, and expect me to cooperate? You really are quite daft, Remus Lupin," Lily commented. "Lumos," she said and light flooded the small, thin area of space they were currently residing in.

"Well, I didn't expect you to react that quickly," he replied, glaring at her.

"_Terribly sorry_," Lily said, her eyes narrowing

Remus's mouth twitched at the corners, like he was about to smile, but then his face went completely blank again. Lily leaned against the wall behind her. "Look, is there some reason you brought me here? Or is it a habit of yours to kidnap unsuspecting girls?"

There was a silence as Lily held her lit wand above her head so she could watch the werewolf's face. The light illuminated his features and the many scars that lined them. A small twinge of pity swept through her, but then she thought about what he'd just done and why he'd probably done it, and she didn't feel so sorry for him anymore.

"You were using him," Remus finally said, bringing out his own wand and igniting it as well.

The situation was quite humorous: both of them, shining their wands in the other's eyes, like a melodramatic detective show. Except detectives usually didn't have wands.

"Merlin, can't you just drop it already?" Lily asked, exasperated, as she rolled her eyes. "I mean, really, we've only had this conversation like three times in the past week."

It was true. He'd cornered her plenty of times ever since the end of the bet, yet the conversations usually ended pretty quickly. He would berate her for tricking Potter into sharing their rather illegal secrets, she would retort with the fact that she hadn't asked him to tell her _anything_; he would shake his head in disappointment, and she would leave. And so it went. It was becoming quite tiresome. Lily had seen quite enough of the Marauders this year than she would've liked to.

"But you've never told me why," he responded, sizing up to her, which was quite pointless seeing as he was about four inches taller than her anyways. "Why James?"

"I thought you knew all the answers," she shot back.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other; clearly he was annoyed with her. Well, that made two of them. "Lily…" he said in a warning voice, as if he was her mother and he was scolding her for playing with matches.

"Fine, I was burning with curiosity of the Marauders' cunning ways and had a passionate desire to learn more so I could, hopefully, put you all into Azkaban. Happy?" she said, wanting to cross her arms but being unable to due to the fact that she was still holding her lit wand in Remus's face.

"No, actually, I'm not."

A slight frown was looking back at her, almost accusingly. Really, this had gone on quite enough. She was sick and tired of all of the Marauders. Especially Potter. Regardless, she didn't dare tell any of them she had figured out the bet. It would ruin the whole effect of the dare. Knowing Potter, if he found out that she had known, he would probably say something arrogant about how she really did like him but had only broken it off with him because causing him to lose was some sort of tribal marriage ceremony…or something along those lines.

Whatever.

"Remus," she began, "we're friends. You know I wouldn't intentionally use someone—even if it was Potter—unless I had a good enough reason," Lily explained. She immediately froze as she heard herself speak. Oh, Godric, that hadn't come out the way she had wanted it to. It had sounded better in her head, where she should have just left it! Great, she was in for it now.

His eyes widened. "There was a reason, then?"

"I never said that—"

But Remus shook his head and grabbed her wrist. "He cared about you—" Lily couldn't help but snort in disbelief, the effect of which was almost ruined as Lily's heart jumped to her throat. "—No, he did, and if his behavior this past week hasn't been enough to prove that…well, then I guess you're the dense one."

Holy mother of Merlin! The bet was over! He didn't have to keep making up these lies to placate her. Potter never cared. Potter only ever cared about making her life miserable. If anyone was the victim here it was her and definitely not foolish James Potter! The bet was done— finished. Finito. Zip, zap, gone!

So…why were the Marauders still acting like the bet was still on?

Out of anger that seemed to have accumulated out of nowhere, Lily twisted her wrist out of his grip. "I'm leaving," she stated simply, bringing her wand back down to her side in one fluid, harsh movement.

And as she turned to leave the way she came, she caught Remus shaking his head at her sadly. Gah, there he went with his guilt trip actions again. Lily stormed away, confused at the fact that Remus was still trying to feed her lies, was still trying to win the bet, even though the bet had finished six days previously.

He must just be a sore loser.

OO

"_Detention_?" Lily shrieked loudly, causing a group comprised of three second year girls to glance at the Head Girl with mild interest. It also forced the owl that had delivered the letter to take off in a mess of feathers, almost knocking over the tray of buttered croissants displayed across the table.

Her green eyes zoomed across the small scroll again, convinced that there had to be a mistake. Perhaps the owl had given it to the wrong person. But there was her name in the top, left corner and again at the beginning of the notice.

_Miss Evans,  
__Your detention is set up for next Monday evening, beginning at six o'clock. Please drop by my office promptly after breakfast.  
__--Professor McGonagall_

"B-but I didn't do anything!" Lily clarified to no one in particular as she began to hyperventilate because of the injustice of it all. The letter was scrunched tightly in her hand, which was beginning to sweat slightly. Oh, Godric, what did McGonagall want with her? Scold her for whatever she had done? Take away her Head Girl badge? No, she couldn't possibly—could she? She glanced up at the staff table in the Great Hall; McGonagall's place was empty, no doubt she was waiting for her ex-best student in her office…emphasis on the 'ex.'

"Calm down, Lily," Alice cooed, handing her friend a glass of milk.

"Yeah, none of us would like it very much if you passed out and overturned all the food on this table," a deep voice a few seats down spoke.

"Shove off, Black," Marlene shot back angrily.

Lily glared and flicked her wand carelessly towards the Marauders, where the pitcher of water that had been sitting innocently on the table spilt into Potter's and Black's laps. Satisfied with herself, and having let out some of her anger, Lily gathered up her bag and grabbed her transfiguration book. "I better go," she said to her friends as James and Sirius attempted to dry themselves off as a few Hufflepuff fourth years sniggered. "I'll meet you in class."

Her friends nodded, offering her words of wisdom and good luck, as she stood up from the bench. Three minutes later she stood outside her head of house's office. On the way, she had convinced herself that there truly must've been a mistake and McGonagall surely just wanted to call her in to ask her about it. So, with that in mind, she knocked on the door.

"Come in, Miss Evans."

It always amazed her that her professors always seemed to know what was going on. It was like they had super powers…well, to put up with all of these kids they had to have some sort of resilience

"Good morning, Professor," Lily greeted, standing awkwardly in the doorway.

McGonagall nodded. "Take a seat," she offered, pointing to the hard-looking chair that sat before her handsome, mahogany desk. It didn't look all the comfortable, but it oddly seemed to fit the personality of Minerva McGonagall.

"Biscuit?"

Well, that was odd.

"No, thank you, Professor

Lily sat and waited for her teacher to continue. _You didn't do anything wrong, Lily, you're innocent. Just breathe, be polite_… "Now, Miss Evans, it appears that Mister Potter has set you a detention," McGonagall began promptly, peering at her student.

Her neck clicked, making an unnatural pop, as her head shot up painfully. "What?" she asked incredulously. Unbelievable, this was un-_bloody_-believable.

The deputy headmistress nodded solemnly, her hands folded neatly in front of her, her eyes stern. "He filed it for," she took out a piece of paper from her desk and began to read off of it, "'un-cordially conduct towards fellow students' and 'deliberate disobedience towards the Head Boy.' Does this have any meaning to you?" she asked, setting down the small piece of parchment.

Lily gaped. No freaking way. Had Potter really stooped so low? Had he honestly given her a detention for what had happened at Quidditch practice? Someone had to be joking. This had to be a cruel prank.

Curse the Marauders.

"Miss Evans?" McGonagall inquired.

"Well—you see—It was Quidditch practice and…" She was furious. This was unmerited! Potter had started it! If it weren't for him and his blasted whistle, none of this would have happened. She wanted so badly to start mouthing off about how insane Potter actually was, but since that was what she had been sent here for…Merlin, James bloody Potter was sabotaging her life even after she thought she'd gotten rid of him!

McGonagall sighed, nodding, as if Lily had just confirmed the charges that had been brought up against her. "I'm disappointed in you, Miss Evans," McGonagall began, pushing her reading glasses up her nose with her index finger. Lily felt herself blushing in shame. The professor stood up slowly from her seat, and taking it as her cue to get up as well, Lily rose. "I've never had trouble from you before," McGonagall continued, "so I can trust that this won't happen again." Lily nodded, backing out towards the door. "Six o'clock, Monday, my office then."

With one last curt nod, McGonagall shut the door with a quiet snap, leaving a ringing silence. Lily listened to herself breathe for a while, standing outside of her professor's office, all kind of thoughts running through her head. Why was Potter such an imbecile? Everything going wrong in her life was his entire fault! She hadn't been serious when she said she was going to give him a detention, and she had thought that he hadn't been either.

Well, two could play that game. It would be easy enough to find something to convict Potter of. Seriously, he was like a walking, talking emblem of trouble. But it had to be something good—Merlin only knew that detentions had no affect whatsoever on the deranged boy. Hmm, but what to file him with…and then, something hit her. If she hadn't screwed up her Astronomy charts, Lily was pretty positive that tonight was a full moon.

OO

Time ticked by. Lily waited. The clock struck midnight. Lily still waited. Her friends fell asleep. Lily continued to wait, because she was one hundred percent certain that any moment now and the portrait hole would open, depositing three very tired, and invisible, boys.

Her back was dead straight against the back of her chair, and her eyes were wide open, almost unblinking, like a cat who was watching a ball of yarn being rolled across the floor. An hour passed by and Lily continued to resist her sagging eyelids. Any moment now…

She couldn't help but think how much things had regressed. Here she was, at the end of the dare, waiting for Potter to return. Five months ago she had been doing the same thing, at the beginning of her dare. In between that time things had gotten so far between Lily and James, and then it had all crashed around them, like she had known deep down that it would, because it had been too good to last. She had won her dare, and caused him to lose his bet.

And yet, here she was, still wanting to extract revenge on him. Perhaps revenge was a bit addicting…

Finally, her ears perked as the portrait hole creaked open. Soft footsteps were muffled by the carpet as they entered. She knew they were there even though she couldn't see them. Thanks to James, she knew most of their secrets now.

"Shut up," she heard someone mutter. She was pretty sure it had been Peter. Ha, so they'd spotted her.

Good.

"Stop," Lily said clearly. The footsteps did in fact stop and Lily, feeling oddly powerful, swished her wand, forming a tripping jinx (mentally thanking Amelia for the idea) which caused the three boys to tumble unceremoniously to the floor in a heap of entangled body parts.

Lily grinned as Sirius swore heavily, bits and pieces of the boys' bodies reappearing at odd intervals. Sirius's feet were exposed as his hand was lying on Peter's exposed back. Peter's leg was jumbled beside Potter's no longer invisible head. They all untangled themselves quickly, all muttering dark curses under their breath.

"Your fault, mate, for showing her," Sirius muttered to James who scowled. Meanwhile, Peter was folding up the Invisibility Cloak behind his friends, delaying the moment where he'd have to look the Head Girl in the eye.

Smirking at all of their stricken faces, Lily approached them. "You're right, Black, thanks Potter for the tip," she said, motioning towards the silvery material bundled up in Peter's pudgy arms. All three of them bore slight scratches, but nothing looked serious.

She glanced at the only bespectacled trouble maker of the lot. "Out after hours…I think I just might have to give you a detention, Potter."

His hazel eyes narrowed dangerously as Sirius and Peter looked at each other, clearly confused as to why they had apparently gotten off so easily. "You _know_ what we were doing, Evans," James hissed severely, taking a step towards her as if threatening her.

Perhaps she was being a bit too vindictive? Oh, for the love of everything magical, this was _Potter, _whom she hated. "I know, which is why I'm making it a double detention," Lily responded easily.

James continued to glare so viciously that Lily actually felt a bit guilty for what she was doing. Though his fancy towards her had been false, the lengths he went to help his friends was not, as much as she hated to admit it. She took in his messy hair (which a little, brown leaf was entwined in), his torn robes, his dirt splattered face…this is who she had wasted half of her seventh year with. A guy who only was nice to her so that he could win five galleons from his mate; a guy who was so aggravating, so conniving, so thoughtless, so good-looking—

Hold the owl. Potter wasn't, and never was, handsome in any shape or form. No way.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Black glance between the both of them. Peter was shuffling his feet anxiously, worried that at any moment Lily might turn on him and hand him two detentions and a death sentence as well.

"Why does only Prongs—"

"Shut it, Padfoot," James demanded of his friend to the surprise of all in the room. He focused his gaze on Lily. "You really are something, you know that?" he said, his voice dangerously low. "One minute you make a bloke think that you like him, and the next…"

"The next, what?" Lily countered. James didn't answer. She glowered. "Well, at least I can count on you to act like I'd expect you to twenty-four-seven."

James seemed beside himself. He kept making odd, sporadic hand motions as if he were desperately trying to restrain himself from poking her with the wand. Not a playful kind of poke, though; the kind of poke that little kids do at the zoo when trying to get a rise out of one of the reptiles sleeping behind the paneled glass…

…Or she supposed he could always hex her, which coming from him, right now, would hurt.

"You are so…" he broke off, shaking his head wildly; the leaf fell to the floor. "Fine, I'll take your detentions," he stated vehemently, "nothing new for a bloke like me, right?"

He jerked his head towards the staircase and his friends followed him to the boys' dorm. James's arm brushed against hers as he passed and she immediately shivered. Peter kept glancing back, apparently shocked and extremely relieved that he had escaped unharmed. As they wound the corner of the stairs Lily craned her head to keep them in view. It wasn't until she heard their dormitory door slam—unnecessarily hard she'd like to add—that Lily stopped pursuing them.

She didn't know why, and she couldn't explain it, but something did _not_ feel right.

It wasn't until the next morning, when she was sitting quietly in transfiguration chatting with her friends, that it happened. It wasn't until Potter strutted in—determinedly not looking at her— and Sirius smirked in her direction that she knew why she hadn't felt right the night before.

"Looking forward to detention with Prongs on Monday, Evans?" Sirius called out.

Oh, Godric. How coincidental…curse the Heavens. This was not going to be pretty.

* * *

_Ohh, I just love "Winner at a Losing Game" by Rascal Flatts. I was actually listening to that song when I was writing this chapter so that's why it's the title...and it seemed to fit. So, that's that. Haha, Lily and James have a lot of issues to sort out with each other...bwahaha._

_Next chapter: Sirius tells the truth...shocker, right? _

_Have a great weekend! And it would be awesome if you reviewed! I know this chapter wasn't as action-packed as the last one, but it was necessary to show how Lily and James got along now. Hopefully you enjoyed it!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer:** _Snort. I wish. _

**A/N:** _THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU: Brainchild, TheHorcruxHunter, Sprut, CelticFairie, ---, Aurora, Sofia, MissMarauder4487, Chris, megsiroo, Isolde Eris, Kana2k, thefatlady44, canadianphoenix, Claudita, LyLMystikeLf, Cristipotter, chili's-girl, Mani, C San, PrimaDi88, tashville007, Capelthwaite, serenity12345, A. Fan, lyssaangel, -Jeisa-, Mrs Claire Potter, A-Lady, Anonymous, grayx3eyedsoul, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Ali Keys, braveatheart, Aurora Kinship, into.your.arms, berniebotts, Bellas-lullaby, lilbit18, Mrs.YoungRoseRamone, pottergirl150, novella07, zozotheterrible, FollowMyLead, aChocoholic, beinginfinite, TwinkieTUTUS, stardust718, Kikuchi, siabrach, The Bare Necessities, Literati and naley forever, IHeartJamesPotter, monica, Cookies94, tin-tin456, coffee dessert, fairybells5, ForgiveButNeverForget, mae garnder, potterlady4691, LILYandJAMESareCUTE, andddd Red n Black Roses. I H.E.A.R.T. you like CRAZZYYYY, no joke. _

_I know, I know, I should be scolding myself (bad Becca, bad!). I'm so sorry for the long wait! But, at least it's up now, so no hard feelings, right? I hope so. lol So, I'm not going to say anything else so you can all get straight to reading! Tata for now!_

**Last week (alright, maybe it was more than a week) on The Devil Wears Quidditch Gear (Oh, goodness, I sound like a TV show) —** _"Well, that explains why you haven't had to do any yet," Lily began, unable to stop herself, "everything that comes out of your mouth is nothing but useless, unintelligent garbage."…….."At least it's better than being a lousy Beater," James retorted quickly, eyes flashing……. "You were using him," Remus finally said, bringing out his own wand and igniting it as well……….."Now, Miss Evans, it appears that Mister Potter has set you a detention," McGonagall began promptly, peering at her student……… "Out after hours…I think I just might have to give you a detention, Potter."……….."Looking forward to detention with Prongs on Monday, Evans?" Sirius called out._

* * *

**Chapter 21: One Dare Doesn't Win a Bet…But Two ****Can**

It had become clear knowledge, to a certain redhead anyways, that whenever a person is waiting for a certain event to occur on the edge of their seats that time seems to slow down, causing the aforementioned person to go crazy with anticipation. The polar opposite of that phenomena was, of course, when a person is absolutely dreading something—like having to attend one of Slughorn's revolting Slug Club meetings, for example—and clocks seem to speed up. Before the person even blinks, the cause of their gut-wrenching dread is upon them, flying towards them upon a world class broomstick dubbed the Starshooter.

And, in Lily Evan's case, this was not an exaggeration.

In exactly twenty three hours, fifteen minutes, and twenty-three seconds Lily was going to have to survive a detention with none other than James Potter. There was a constant knot of anxiety in her stomach which only ever loosened slightly when, curiously enough, she was around the Chaser. No, and it certainly wasn't because he calmed her down—like he used to—no, James bloody Potter did _not _affect any part of her body…except for the part of her system that produced her anger hormones.

For the past two days, which had sped by incredibly fast (so much so that she'd even questioned whether or not the Marauders had messed with her watch), Lily had been wondering how the heck she'd gotten into this predicament. The only answer she had come up with was that fate must really have something against her. For real, what were the odds that Potter would give her a detention, and she would just happened to give him one, and McGonagall would schedule them both for Monday at six in her office? It was just absurd.

"If it's that big of a problem," Marlene had remarked Saturday afternoon, "why not just go talk to McGonagall about it?"

Lily had just crossed her arms and legs and had stuck her nose back into her book in silence. She could not go plead to her professor. How immature would that be? That was something she'd expect from Potter, not herself. Besides, she had an odd feeling that it had been no mistake that McGonagall had made their detentions for the same night.

Curse teachers who felt like they needed to intervene within their students' lives.

Things between the two head students had neither improved nor worsened. Most of Hogwarts, and even some of the teachers, were amazed at how quickly the couple's relationship had shifted down the social spectrum. What was worse was that most of them had sided with James, seeing as it appeared that Lily had led him on for months only to break his heart. Which, to some extent, is what had happened but the students didn't know that Potter's new behavior was due to the loss of gold and not the loss of a girl.

Pompous dung-brain.

There was another thing bothering Lily, though, which caused her to twist in bed at night and to have nightmares about treacle tart for some strange reason; every time she came within a few feet of Potter something inside of her seemed to…drop. It was like the sight of him caused her stomach to vanish and reappear at her feet. She tried not to dwell on it, however, because it would most likely only lead to an answer that she had tried to stray away from for quite some time now.

As for the treacle tart filled dreams…those perplexed her just as much as the next person.

So, come Sunday afternoon, Lily was sitting outside under a large oak tree, bundled up in her scarf and sweater, reading a book while trying to ignore the knot of dread pulsing in her gut. She had just finished the chapter entitled "How to Prepare for the N.E.W.T. Examination for Advanced Charms" when the sound of fallen, dead leaves crunching underneath someone's trainers broke the chilly silence.

"Hey, Evans."

Lily sighed deeply, recalling every bit of patience she had in her body. After folding the corner of her page, she placed her helpful N.E.W.T. practice book (which had become somewhat of her Bible over the past few weeks) beside her on the frost-bitten ground.

"Hullo, Black."

Sirius grinned eerily and flopped down beside the redhead. She glanced at him, fearing for why he had come out here looking for her of all people. They'd never really gotten on well—except for the time that he'd revealed that he wanted her to stay on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but Lily knew the secret motive that had been behind _that_ one.

There was a stiff silence, broken only by Sirius, who had coughed into his hand before picking up Lily's heavy book and flipping through it. "Should've known you would've already started studying," he commented, chuckling to himself as he handed her back the book.

She shot him a look, not sure if that had been a smack on her studious nature or just an innocent observation. Knowing Black, Lily was certain it was the former. "Did you come out here for a reason?" she asked him, pulling her jacket tighter around herself against the late winter gusts.

"Heard about what happened at practice the other day," Sirius began without hesitation, watching her with a smirk that made her want to hex his face off.

_Oh, Merlin, here he goes._

"What about it?" Lily inquired against her better judgment.

"I think," he began, facing her, "you were too hard on him."

Lily blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. "You're joking," she said.

He peered at her. "No…"

Her breaths came out as puffs of fog, her warm breath mixing with the cold air. "I'm sure that whatever Potter said to you showed him in a much better light than what the reality of the situation had been."

The handsome bloke smiled slightly, admitting a laugh that made Lily feel like some stupid, naïve school girl. "You undermined his authority as captain," Sirius pointed out, "and I don't think he appreciated that much."

She had done _what_?! "Undermined his authority?" she repeated hysterically, "What authority? You can't have authority if you don't earn respect!"

"He thought he had," Sirius admitted calmly. Though Lily's voice had risen to quite a loud volume, Sirius's had remained quite neutral, as if he were telling a very interesting bedtime story.

Prat.

Her hands were beginning to shake. The heat in her body was beginning to rise. "Excuse me?" she asked wildly. "If it hadn't been for his blasted whistle—"

"—he wouldn't need a whistle if he didn't have to try to tame someone like you, Evans," Sirius smirked, crossing his arms casually and regarding her like she was the most interesting animal in a petting zoo that he'd ever seen.

"And what is _that _supposed to mean?" she shot back, completely fed up with this conversation already. She grabbed her book and clutched it to her chest, preparing her things so she could leave at a moment's notice.

Sirius shrugged and clasped his hands together. "Let's face it, Evans. You're not the best player around."

That's when Lily snapped. Twzzing! She scrambled up from the ground, in her haste almost tripping over the tree's roots, and snapped one of her hands to her hips. He mimicked her and stood up as well. They faced each other, a mere five inches apart; Lily's breathing was quick and shallow. How dare he—why was he still trying to dismantle her? The filthy bet was over, hook, line, and sinker! Was it just in his nature to be rude, inconsiderate…well, he was Sirius Black.

"And you're not the smartest guy around; now that we have _that _settled, why don't you just go off and try to find more ways to be chucked into Azkaban."

Vroom! Just like that his face drained of all color and he took a step closer to the petit redhead. "What did you just say?" he asked threateningly, which reminded her a lot of Remus when he was accusing her of snitching on the Marauders' secrets, which, in return, only heightened her frenzy and made her crack like an egg on a sidewalk.

"The bet is over, Black!" she yelled in his face, throwing her hands up in the air. "It's bloody over so quit following me!"

She glared at him for a moment longer, thinking about all the consequences that would probably come from what she had just said—but right now she didn't give a rat's fart—before she turned on her heel and marched away.

"Evans!"

Her steps quickened as she could hear him bumbling along behind her. "Evans, Evans, stop!"

It turned out that her pace just hadn't been speedy enough. Her small, quick steps just weren't enough to outrun Sirius's long legs. His large hand wrapped around her wrist and he spun her—he was gentler than she would have thought him to be—so she was facing him once again.

His mysterious eyes were watching her carefully, the dark pupils shaking ever-so-slightly as they focused intensely on her face. "What did you just say?" he asked her, shaking her softly as if he was just so tremendously anxious to hear her words a second time.

Merlin, she was helpless. Everyone who had brains had stayed indoors today—the windy chills not very pleasing to the students—and Lily, as she met Sirius's gaze, half-wished that she had stayed inside as well.

"I know about the bet, Black," she said.

Before this moment she had expected that if any of the Marauders ever found out that she'd been clued in from the start, they would have literally blown their tops. Okay, maybe not that much of an extreme, but she would have expected them to have had more of a reaction than Sirius Black was showing now. He was simply standing there, holding her wrist, looking at her innocently, which was such an ironic word to use around any of the Marauders anyways.

"Bet?" he questioned smartly with the classic look of 'Who? Me?'. "What is the meaning of that word?" he played confidently, winking charmingly while he grinned.

Nasty bugger. Didn't he know that this was no time for winks, grins, or confidence?

"Oh, come on," she complained. When Sirius just continued to look at her blankly, Lily caved. "The one with Potter, me, Quidditch…ring a bell?"

With a joyous, and very over-played, snap of his fingers, Sirius nodded. "Oh, _that _bet. Yeah, so?" he asked her.

If she had had her wand Black would have been on the ground, crawling his way back up to the castle with tentacles sprouting from his body. Her jaw practically dropped in disbelief as her cheeks flushed angrily. "_So?_" she repeated, her voice reaching its hysterical screech once again, "that's all you have to say? You bloody toy with my emotions, and you aren't even embarrassed to admit it?"

All the while, Sirius's eyes remained void of any type of recognition. Did he honestly have no clue why she was so upset? Could he really be that stupid? Impossible. Well, it was clear knowledge that she had considered him daft on more than one occasion, but honestly! She stood up straight, her eyes wide, her face red, the wind blowing her hair around like a flipping kite, and he had the nerve to just _stand _there.

"Your feelings?" he asked her, putting a hand to his head and pushing his hair back into place in a rather atypical confused manner. "What in the name of Merlin's Y-fronts are you on about, Evans?"

What. The. Hell. He wasn't joking. He really didn't have a clue. There was no way they were on the same page here. "What are _you _talking about?" she asked back. Major confusion. What was going on?

"I thought we were talking about Prongs's and my Quidditch bet," he replied.

Quidditch bet? Not Lily bet? But Quidditch bet? The bet she had overhead had things to do with Quidditch but that had only been after her friends had dared her to try out for the team…way after Potter and Black had made the bet.

Maybe it was a code name…

Nah…that was just idiotic.

Then again it was the Marauders…

No, something was not right. Nothing was adding up.

Oh, for the love of Godric Gryffindor…

"Evans? Evans? Oi, Lily!"

The sound of Sirius saying her first name caused her to snap out of her thoughts. Her mind was spinning, like she'd just been thrust into the Black Lake and the giant squid was having a laugh by chucking her around with its many slimy, suction-cupped tentacles. She gulped some air, the coldness of it freezing her voice box. "W-what," she stopped, swallowed, and got control of her stutter. "What was your Quidditch bet, Black?"

For the first time, Sirius looked worried for the girl in front of him. His eyes were narrowed in thought slightly and he dropped her wrist. "It was all in good fun, I mean, Prongs is my best mate and—" he broke off, staring at Lily. "Wait a second; you thought that the bet had to do with you?" he questioned.

"Black!" she interrupted, "just answer my question!"

It was obvious he didn't like to be told what to do because his jaw twitched in annoyance. In the end, he must have decided that it wouldn't be best to challenge the Head Girl, especially when she was clearly distraught. He drew in a deep breath, probably just to make her squirm a bit longer, before he, figuratively speaking of course, dropped the Knight Bus on her skull.

"I bet Prongs five galleons that he would lead his Quidditch team to a loss this season," Sirius explained offhandedly, waving his wrist as if it wasn't really that important.

Lily began to hyperventilate and she literally felt all the blood rush from her face to her pinky toes. Oh, sweet mother…

Sirius trying to psyche her out…the outcome of the bet depending on whether they made it to the semi-finals…Potter encouraging her that she'd play well…

Oh no.

"…I mean, it was his first year being captain, you should have seen how nervous the git was…" he broke off, realizing that Lily had stopped digesting his words at 'Quidditch team.'

Lily also assumed he must have noticed her swaying because he grabbed her right arm tightly to steady her. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked.

She gulped down a mouthful of the frosty air once again. "You mean, Potter's not an insensitive prick?" she found herself asking quietly, hoping beyond hopes that she hadn't misinterpreted the bet because that would mean—

Oh, jeez, she really had broken his heart!

No, no, it was just a crush. It's not like he was in _love_ with her, for Merlin's sake. He probably already had gotten over it? No heart breaking…no. Heart breaking. Bad. And he had been so sweet, so nice, so—

Holy crap! She really did like James Potter.

"Merlin, Evans," Sirius said, his eyes suddenly wide as he put two and two together, "you didn't think that Prongs asked you out on a bet, did you?"

All Lily could do was nod her head like a freakin' bobble-head in the back seat of a station wagon loaded down with three kids and cockerel spaniel named Poochy. Sirius began swearing to himself before he grabbed Lily's shoulders and forced her to look at him. All Lily really saw was a blob of peach with a mop of black sitting atop it. Panic mode, panic mode…what was she going to do…where was she going to hide? Wait, hide? Her? Oh blast her stubborn pride! She just wanted to go curl up in her duvet covers and scream into her pillow.

"But—but…I heard you guys…mentioned my name, 'Evans' you kept saying," Lily told him desperately, hoping beyond anything that he was about to begin to do a little jig while singing 'April Fools' over and over again.

He looked at her closely again, and she could tell that the wheels were turning in his head. "Yeah…couldn't have been Amelia Evans, no?" he asked her a little cheekily, still content on messing with her when she was clearly having some sort of emotional breakdown. "When Prongs booted her off I thought I had the bet in the bag…"

Sirens began going off in her head. Oh, Merlin… all of the conversations she had overheard between the Marauders began replaying in her head like a rather horrible piece of movie film. Her breathing became heavy. Had they really been talking about _Amelia_? Oh no, oh no. She was losing it. Someone needed to slap her! Where were her friends when she needed them?

And dear Godric, how had it not hit her before that she and Amelia shared a common last name?

"Evans, listen to me," Sirius commanded of her, the smirk finally dying from his face as he watched the Head Girl fight with her inner thoughts—she must have looked like a downright scary woman for Sirius to take this seriously—"He's been a right mess this past week."

A weird gurgle in her throat was the only reply Sirius received. He swore again. "Stay with me, Evans!" he pleaded, like she was on her deathbed heading towards the infamous light. "You…" he left his thoughts hanging as he watched Lily's face change from red, to white, to even a slight purplish color. It was clear to Lily—even in her bizarre state of mind—that Sirius obviously didn't have a clue about how to handle the situation.

How many times would a seventeen year old bloke find himself in a situation like this?

Odds were a million _zillion_ to one.

"Merlin, woman, you've got problems," he told her, guiding her by the shoulders into the castle.

Lily's head snapped and she punched him in the arm. Insults to her psyche were her stimulants. "I'm perfectly capable of walking myself, thank you," she told him briskly, wrenching her shoulders from his grasp, greatly surprising Sirius who had come to think she was incapable of rendering anything coherent.

Masking his surprise at her blunt return to normal behavior, Sirius fell into step with her. "That may be so," he reckoned, nodding, "but, if you ask me, you need my help."

_No, what I need is__Dorcas__…I need Marlene…__Godric__, where's Alice? _"Good thing I'm not asking you then," she retorted, a quarter of her mind focused on dealing with this 'Sirius' nuisance (the fact that she'd just made a pun on Sirius's name was proof enough to how addled her brain was) and the other three-quarters still trying to wrap around the fact that…_she had made up the __friggin__' bet!_

"You, my dear, have royally screwed up," he replied, taking a long stride and stopping right in front of her, blocking her path.

Common room; get to the common room. What was she going to do? What if she ran into Jame—Potter? Oh, the humiliation. Her heart was pumping like a fat hippogriff who'd just galloped—wait, did hippogriffs even gallop?—a mile. "Sod off, Black," she told him, stepping rapidly to the right.

Once again, he mimicked her motions. "You liked him, didn't you?" he asked her coyly.

_Don't you dare start blushing, Lily __Evans._And since when had Sirius Black become so darn observational and clever. It was like he'd been reading the 'Ask Celeste' column in the advice section of the Daily Prophet or something.

"Go away," Lily told him, this time hopping to the left, hoping for a better chance of getting her butt out of there.

No such luck. He had kippered off to the left a split nanosecond after she had. Curse him and his impressive reflexives. "But you thought he was joking…" he continued analyzing the situation.

She was starting to panic now as Sirius stood there picking apart the details of her life for the past few months. If he found out what had happened it would only be about five seconds until James (blast it, his name is Potter!) tracked her down. And right now she'd rather face You-Know-Who himself, and his pack of Death Eaters, than discuss this truly messed up situation with James Potter.

"Black, I swear, if you don't move—"

"—If you thought you knew all along though, why did you actually tolerate him?"

Sirius was looking at her attentively, almost like she was a scrap of paper that held scribbles of a plan for a wonderful prank. There was no way she was going to spill anything else to this guy any longer. Her trap was remaining firmly shut. "Go screw yourself, Black," she said, before faking a right and then reversing to the left, successfully making her away around Sirius's six foot frame.

Thankfully, he didn't' stop her. She supposed he was too busy trying to get his brain back into the function of actually thinking about something to try to figure it out. That, or he was whisking off to find James. Oh, bugger, she was in for it.

And for goodness sake, what had she done in life to deserve this type of punishment? Had she done something terrible in her past life? Perhaps been Grindelwald, died, and had been reincarnated in a witch's body? There had been no bet that had anything to do directly with her! James had been genuine the entire time!

Heck, she had known he couldn't have been that good of an actor!

More importantly, she really had fallen for the toerag!

OO

"I mean, what am I going to do? Where am I going to eat? I can't starve! Oh, no, what about lessons? This is N.E.W.T. year!"

Lily was currently pacing her dormitory floor; she would be surprised if she hadn't worn her footprints into the wooden surface by now. Luckily, the common room had been Marauder-free when she entered…actually, she wouldn't know because, after leaving Black, she had made a detour back outside—to the Quidditch pitch to be precise—and had flown into her dormitory by way of broomstick.

Quite ingenious she had thought.

"First of all, you are going to eat in the great hall, like a normal person," commented Marlene simply.

Thanks for that, Marlene, because Potter definitely wouldn't ever be there. Food beckons blokes, another fact that had become clear knowledge over the years.

"Second of all, you're probably more prepared for exams than all the seventh years combined, so don't worry about lessons," Dorcas continued as she chomped away on her piece of Drooble's chewing gum.

Lily turned and glared. "I cannot skip out on lessons!" she declared wildly as if Dorcas had been the one who had suggested the absurd idea in the first place.

Pop. Dorcas's bubble had burst and as she picked the remaining bits of sticky residue off of her face, she chuckled. "See? Knew the talk of N.E.W.T.'s would bring her back to reality," she said, getting up off of her bed only to push Lily down onto it. "Now, you need to reorganize your courageous strategies, girl."

Alice nodded. "I mean, we love you and all, but there's no way we are going to cater food to you," she joked.

Psh. Some friends.

"Okay, think of it like a Quidditch game," Dorcas began, Accio-ing a piece of parchment from her trunk. She began drawing squiggly lines and odd symbols all over it.

Marlene, Alice, and even Lily, who knew Quidditch talk, looked at Dorcas like she had just declared that she wished to work with dragons for the rest of her life. "Dorcas, I don't think now is the best time—" Marlene began but was silenced by her blonde friend.

"Potter," Dorcas began, ignoring her friends' odd stares as she drew a circle with a large P in the center, "is your Bludger. You," she created a stick-person with long hair, "are the Beater. Now, you've kept him in sight during the game but, when he got too close, you smacked him in the opposite direction."

Honestly, Lily thought this was about the most useless thing she'd ever heard, but for some odd reason she was paying rapt attention like this was a charms lesson or something equally as important. Marlene was rolling her eyes with Alice in the background. "Okay, so you've just hit the Bludger away from you, but the opposing team has hexed it to stick to you," Dorcas drew a weird looking arrow between the 'P' and the 'L'. "Now, what do you do?"

Lily looked from the paper, to Dorcas, to Marlene and then to Alice, that last two who were sitting on the floor with looks that clearly said they hadn't followed one word of whatever Dorcas had been saying. "Uh…hit him again?" Lily asked uncertainly.

"What's the point if he'll just come back?" Dorcas questioned inquiringly.

Oh, please, Dorcas couldn't be considering that she should actually _talk _to Potter, could she? "But if I don't hit him, then he hits me, and I end up in the hospital wing with a broken appendage," Lily countered, trying to stay away from the whole 'discuss your feelings' option.

The blonde Chaser shook her head, shaking her quill at Lily, splattering blue ink over her bedspread. "Not if you charm him back to normal."

As if to prove the point that they had no idea what was going on, Alice looked up from a stain on the floor that had aptly caught her attention. "I thought we were talking about a Bludger?"

Lily and Dorcas chose to ignore this, for at least they knew what was going on. "Dorcas, I just can't," Lily admitted, throwing her hands up in defeat. "I mean, I practically ripped out his heart, hit it with my Beater bat, and then fed it to the squid…he's not too happy with me."

"And you're obviously not so great without him," Dorcas concluded.

Her stricken gaze that had resulted from what Dorcas had just voiced caused Marlene to contribute to the conversation. "We're not as slow as you think, Lils," she said, flicking a speck of dust off of her jeans. Lily thought that was a bit rich, considering the way this whole conversation had seemed to get lost somewhere between Marlene's ears and brain.

"You need to fix this mess, otherwise these 'I'm better than you are' Quidditch practices will drive the team to suicide," Dorcas added.

Talk to Potter? Admitting she'd been wrong? Revealing that—oh, look, surprise!—she really had fallen for him and not some fake fore-front he'd put up? Right. Asking her to talk to James was like asking Hagrid—the school's ground keeper—to give up his strange fascination with dangerous, bordering on the line of vicious, creatures.

"I can't," she said, holding her hands up in defense.

Her friends all glanced at each other; Lily felt uneasy. There they went communicating behind her back…again! This never turned out well for her.

"Alice, care to do the honors?" Marlene asked, making a grand show out of it…whatever _it _was.

"Why, of course," Alice answered, grinning widely.

Yep, this definitely wasn't going to turn out well. Lily began to regret ever sharing her conversation with Black with them…"What are you three—?"

"If you won't do it willingly—" Dorcas began.

"Then we'll dare you," Alice finished. Lily swore under her breath, remembering the charm placed on all dares by the Gryffindor girls – if she didn't own up and do this—whatever _this _was—she'd have to go and declare undying love for, and kiss, Severus Snape.

Blast it. Her friends were cruel.

Three of the four girls were smiling like they'd just won the million galleon sweepstakes. The last one of the four—it can easily be guessed as to which one it was—was struggling to restrain her desire to hop back onto the school broom she had borrowed and zoom out that open window, not stopping until she hit Bulgaria.

"You've got to be joking? Haven't we learnt our lesson?" Lily pleaded, eyes wide.

"Yes, which is why we must set it right now," Marlene said swiftly, following Lily's gaze and hastily closing the window of their dormitory with a snap.

Merlin, they weren't yanking her wand. They were dead serious. Out of a nervous habit she glanced at her watch.

She nearly jumped out of the window anyways, prepared to smash through the glass and all.

Only eleven hours, seven minutes, and fifty-nine seconds until her detention with Jam—Potter! For the love of Merlin, his name was Potter!

* * *

_See? Told you Sirius would be telling the truth! Sirius really is a nice guy...he just really wanted to win that bet. Gosh, boys. _

_Well, I hope you had fun reading! Thanks to Sunny, my fantastic, wonderful beta who took time out of her busy schedule to edit this!_

**Next Chapter:** _Lily and James have quite a lot of stuff, for lack of a better term, to sort out...oh, and they both have detention...on the same night...at the same time. Oh, McGonagall really is a smarty..._

_Thanks for reading! And it would be awesome if you could drop a review my way! How about, tell me the name of your favorite character in Harry Potter! This should be interesting!_

_See you in two weeks (hopefully...nah, don't worry. I'll do my best to get it up within the next two weeks!)_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer:** _If I were J.K. Rowling, I highly doubt it would take me a month and a half to get my creative juices completely flowing…meh, who knows, I could be wrong, but I think not. _

**A/N:** _SQUEAL, SQUEAL, SQUEAL!! AHHHHHH. You are all so amazing, no joke! Thanks a million times over to: Coff, I WANT A NEW CHAPTER, sick of waiting, anonymous, toolazytosignin, Summer Magick, Sofia, xshrimpyx, gredandforge924, xBlibberingxHumdingerx, deadandbreathing, RfredandCgeorge, Sprut, Danielle, Jules, UPDATE PLZ, potterlady4691, megstar-shines-bright, Mani, aliana, Chris, AmazingBouncingFerret445, iheartjamesandlily, .Blue-eyesMoon-eyes., oreoxlove4ever, Ayana, Claudita, TheHorcruxHunter, novella07, Cristipotter, -Jeisa-, phoenixgurl195, beinginfinite, MissMarauder4487, Squeak4ever, Mrs Claire Potter, BlackBells, LyLMystikeLf, Violin Ghost, A. Fan, PRONGS-and-LILY-forever, Jessiquie, mistery woman, LILYandJAMESareCUTE, SparklingEyesWithACrazyMind, ccraffigan, gryffindorseeker924, Chocolate Chip Cookie, TwinkieTUTUS, Kikuchi, A-Lady, loonysango, serenity12345, erin, Bellas-lullaby, C San, grayx3eyedsoul, brainchild (friend thing), Cookies94, mae garnder, CelticFairie, berniebotts, rubic-cube, coffee dessert, FollowMyLead, Sprut, starcrossedvoyager, Ali Keys, zozotheterrible, meg, soccergurl1993, Moon Comix, Dollarbanks, tin-tin456, stardust718, tashville007, siabrach, annnndddd forgiveButNeverForget. You guys make me want to get up and do some square dancing! lol_

_So, first I'd like to apologize for how long it has taken me to update. (Waves nervously to readers) Long time no type...No, but really, I'm sorry. I'm actually quite hesitant to post this chapter because parts of it still make me cringe. However, it's been way too long and I wanted to give you guys something to read. Perhaps later down the road, once my beta has time to read/edit it, I'll repost this chapter. The rest of my author's note will be at the end of this chapter. So, without further ado, have fun reading this incredibly long chapter!_

_Oh, Darn it. I screwed up again last chapter…Dorcas is SEEKER not CHASER!_

**Last week (okay, okay, last month and a half) on The Devil Wears Quidditch Gear:** _"I bet Prongs five galleons that he would lead his Quidditch team to a loss this season."………… "You liked him, didn't you?"…….. Oh, jeez, she really had broken his heart!...Oh, please, Dorcas couldn't be considering that she should actually talk to Potter, could she?... "If you won't do it willingly—""Then we'll dare you."………. Only eleven hours, seven minutes, and fifty-nine seconds until her detention with Jam—Potter! For the love of Merlin, his name was Potter!_

* * *

**Chapter 22: Of Muggle Playwrights, Snitches, and Detentions**

"I can't believe—she is so—what gave her the right—_bloody hell_."

James ran a hand through his hair for about the umpteenth time that evening as he paced back and forth in front of the table in the Hogwarts kitchen. House elves were running hither and thither as they washed away the pots and pans used for that night's dinner like they did every night. Their frantic activity only heightened James's own hysteria, causing him to turn his hair into a tangle of knots.

Overall, it wasn't that great of a look for him.

He winced as his fingers became stuck in his mass of curls and then threw a glare at Sirius who had attempted, and failed miserably, to conceal his snort of amusement.

Padfoot had never been one for subtly.

"Well," Peter stated suddenly as if he we commenting on the weather, picking apart his lemon tart, "I'd say this is extremely screwed up."

Remus thumped the inconsiderate boy on the back of his head and James mentally applauded Moony for his loyal actions. Wormtail really could be an insensitive prat, sometimes even more so than Sirius.

"Ouch…Well, it is!" Peter justified, rubbing his now bruised skull.

Sirius, who was sitting on one of the benches with his feet propped up on the table (because looking cool was just something that Sirius excelled in without trying), raised his finger up in the air, as if he were about to reveal a highly intellectual thought. Ha; intellectual thought…James would give up his wand if Sirius wasn't opening his mouth just to further rub this—lack for a better term—odd situation in his face.

"Extremely screwed up," James' best mate began, "and slightly ironic," Padfoot finished.

Rolling his eyes with his mouth struck open due to his two friends' extreme insensitiveness, Remus looked towards Prongs. "Shall you slap him, or should I?" he asked, the corners of his mouth threatening to split into a smile.

"Forget physical violence; I was going to go with a full out Wizarding duel," James growled lowly, fingering his slender, black wand in his right hand.

"Now, now, no need to be hasty," Sirius said, smirking slightly. "Some friend," Padfoot continued to scoff playfully, "taking out his anger on his mates just because he screwed up with a girl."

This time both Remus and James slapped Sirius upside the head, whose chair fell back on his hind legs with a bang, shaking his feet from their resting place atop the table. "Cripies! It was just an observation…"

The group was silent for a while, save Sirius's continued mutterings of mad lunatics as friends and Peter's slurping of his desert. A vision of red hair suddenly flashed across James's mind (thanks to a bloody apple that a House Elf has just carried past him) and he closed his eyes sharply, rubbing his pupils with the palms of his calloused hands. Godric, Evans could be so complicated sometimes—frequently—or rather, all the time. James placed his hands on his hips, his feet shoulder-width apart, as he desperately faced his friends.

"What do I do?" he asked bluntly, as if they hadn't just been physically and verbally abusing one another; that was the thing with the Marauders. They could have their disagreements, they could poke fun at one another, but in the end they always came back together.

Other people, however…

Honestly, how could Evans ever think that he would just ask her out on a bet? It was so…he didn't even know the word to describe the idiocy of it all. Did she really think that lowly of him? The answer obviously seemed to be yes. Thinking about it made James feel like punching something very hard…which he had done when Sirius had first told him about his run-in with Lily.

"So, any suggestions, boys?" He flexed his bruised knuckles, clenching and unclenching his right fist, as his three mates looked back at him blankly. Padfoot was in the process of resting his feet atop the table again, Peter was licking his fork, and Remus was actually attempting to look to be in thought, but with the low number of girls that Moony had ever dated James would bet that his werewolf had no clue as to what to do. Pity, since Moony was usually the smart one.

"Give her chocolates," Peter offered after a while.

Everyone fixed him with a rather confused stare. Chocolates? Where the hell had that come from? Since when was Wormtail the first to offer up his ideas? He usually just sat back, keen to let others take the lead and follow along with the plan. Following Wormtail's line of vision, James came to the conclusion that the sight of an abnormally large ice cream fudge sundae had caused Peter to act so abnormally.

"Somehow I doubt Lily will be swayed by candy," James explained dryly with a sigh. Was he the only one who understood Lily's nature? Sweets? Yeah, the day James wanted a bruise for a face would be the day he offered Lily Evans chocolates as an apology.

"Flowers?" Peter threw in again.

"Yeah, how about some nice _lilies_," Sirius commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"I think lilies are nice," Peter announced. Deep down in his throat James growled possessively for something that was not his. Peter threw his hands up in defense as he squeaked like a nervous rat from the glare James was sending him. "Not like that—what I meant was—I'll stop talking."

There was a moment of brief silence. "A card?" Peter piped up again, thought somewhat hesitantly.

"Merlin," Sirius announced exasperatedly, "this is Lily Evans we're talking about, Wormtail. She'd be about as easy to sway with a nice card as Bella would."

James had simply been leaning his back against the stove of the kitchen—well, until Wormtail had tried to make a move on his woman—as his friends, well, Peter rather, had offered up suggestions on how he could apologize to Lily.

Wait. Hold the owl.

Apologize? What had _he _done? The only thing that he'd done was ask her out in the hopes that she would reciprocate his feelings that he'd had for the past three years. She was the one who had screwed everything up with her false accusations and ridiculous doubts on his sincerity.

Wow, he felt quite smart for coming up with that deep of an explanation.

Anyways, it was about time for Evans to come groveling to him for once. If she wanted to fix this, if she really did like him like Sirius said, then he'd let her come to him. Boy, how odd did that sound? James wasn't one for sitting back and doing nothing.

"So," Sirius started, picking something out idly from underneath his fingernail, "what are you going to do, mate?"

"Nothing."

All of his friends did a double take. "Nothing?" they all chorused incredibly.

James crossed his arms defiantly. "Yeah, nothing. May I remind you that I did nothing wrong."

There was a brief silence. Sirius was scratching his head. "That's a first."

"Especially with Evans," Peter concluded.

Moony, the constant voice of reason in the group of boys, spoke up from the end of the table. "Prongs…I dunno…she's too stubborn to admit anything—I mean, the times that I've confronted her about you—"

"—You did what?" James yelped. So, his friends _had _been sneaking around behind his back, speaking to Lily. He had expected it of Sirius, the one who had started this whole problem, and the one who would stop at nothing to win the bet. But Moony? What did he have against her?

Remus placed his head in his hands, rubbing his face tiredly. "I thought she was…er…" he glanced off helplessly as he shrugged pathetically, "I thought she was using you."

Surprising the four present in the room, James nodded sharply, exhaling heavily. "Wow, this _is_ ironic."

Sirius smirked as he tried to remain serious—really, no pun intended—for James's sake. "Look, Prongs, it's going to take a lot for Lily to come back to you," Remus continued to share his intelligence.

Yeah, James had thought of that little road block, he just hadn't spent much effort trying to find a way around it. Maybe he should just go _through _it?

"Not to mention that you're usually the one to take action when it comes to Evans…she's probably expecting you to make the first move…and that was meant to be in a completely platonic sense," Sirius finished, grinning and his dark eyes glinting mischievously.

For the love of Gryffindor, why did everything that ever happened with Lily Evans always end up so complicated? There were always so many unnecessary problems and obstacles; it was quite tiring. However, though it extremely wounded his pride to admit it, Remus was right. Yet this was his test to her—he wanted her to prove she wanted him.

Was that childish?

He glanced down at the Marauder's Map which was spread out regally across the table, like an antique on display for the four boys to take pride in. Almost immediately, as if he had a little Lily-radar engraved in his brain, his eyes found Evans' dot. Instantly he felt a surge of energy, as if his feet desperately wanted to run towards the dot and explain everything.

Blast it. Perhaps his plan wasn't going to work so well.

"I'll see what happens," he offered finally, almost begrudgingly.

A House Elf bustled over towards Peter, a sundae held on their shoulder atop a black tray. "I still think chocolates are a good idea," he said, picking up his spoon.

OOO

Lily Evans was determined—determined to find a loophole—determined to find a loophole to this idiotic dare that her even more moronic friends had felt the need to hand out to her.

The problem was time was running out. It was already Monday afternoon and as she sat in Defense Against the Dark Arts she couldn't help but imagine nasty things that could happen to her Transfiguration teacher between now and six that could possibly hinder her incapable of supervising a detention.

As her teacher droned on about something that she'd learned in her fifth year, Lily got the unmistakable feeling that someone was watching her…someone who happened to be sitting two seats behind her. Darn it, Potter! He'd been distracting her with his awkward glances all day; she'd feel his presence, she'd turn to glare at him (just to hide the fact that she really wanted to hug him…or something like that), and he'd promptly be staring out the window as if he'd been doing it all along.

It was obvious that Black had gotten to his mate. Curse meddling friends! Even Remus seemed less hostile towards her; well, at least he hadn't tried to corner her at all today, which was a miraculous feat once she thought about it. Pricks; they were perfectly content with sitting back and waiting for her to make the first move. Well, except for Sirius that is. He kept attempting to make blatant comments whenever she was around ("Hey, Evans, don't you have a _cozy _patrol with Prongs tonight?"). It was quite—no, scratch that—_extremely_ annoying. Why had she cracked? If she had a stronger resilience neither Sirius, nor James, nor any of the Marauders for that matter, would know about her fancy for Potter.

Sometimes, she really did hate herself.

She had kept her eyes resolutely pointing forward throughout the whole lesson, afraid of catching any of the Marauders' gazes, and it was only fifteen minutes before the bell that she realized she had been focusing on Severus Snape's head for the past half an hour.

And there, sitting smack dab in front of her, was her only loophole. Sev. Darn him! It was his entire fault. If he hadn't decided to turn out to be such a lost cause she probably would have dismissed this new dare by kissing her old friend. In fact, if they were still friends, the first dare wouldn't have even been a problem at all.

Yep, this was all Severus's fault.

Oh, who was she kidding? She was just determined to blame somebody for this predicament that she knew perfectly well she had landed herself in. For any normal girl, talking to a guy who, only a week ago, she had snogged and, only a few months ago, had realized that she fancied the pants off the bloke, and, a week ago, she had crushed his dreams into a pulp would be relatively simple.

Well, maybe not. But it was ten times harder for Lily because she tended to have a stubborn pride complex. Admitting that she had been in the wrong, and that she had made a mistake, was about as hard for her to do as it would be for Slytherins to even pretend to be good people.

Chances were slim to none.

It made matters worse that she actually, truly, did want to settle things with James because, though it was like wrenching teeth to admit it, she had, like it or not, fallen for the Quidditch captain. It was those types of thoughts that made Lily hate herself more than she already did.

OO

"Oi! Watch the merchandise," Marlene objected as Sirius grabbed her around her arm as she exited her dormitory. She had been on her way back towards the Great Hall for lunch, after having retrieved her Transfiguration book that she had left under her bed that morning, when Sirius had launched out of nowhere. He had practically tackled her to the ground.

"Okay, McKinnon," Sirius began, once he'd dragged her off to the opposite side of the common room and pushed her backwards into the couch, "here's my proposition."

Marlene narrowed her eyes curiously. "Shoot."

"You're friends with Evans; I'm friends with James."

_Good call, genius_. Marlene nodded slowly, her elbows resting on her thick textbook that lay in her lap. "Glad to know you're that observant, Sirius."

Ignoring her remark on his intelligence completely, Sirius pushed onwards. "My friend likes your friend," he remarked simply, vaguely.

"No kidding," Marlene said sarcastically.

"But they aren't together."

"No."

"We need to change that."

Marlene grinned and chuckled to herself. Lucky for them, they'd already dealt with Lily. "Way ahead of you, Black," she told him as she grabbed the handles of her schoolbag and shoved her Transfiguration book into it. Obviously, she considered this conversation over.

"What have you done?" he asked her, pushing her shoulders again to keep her from leaving.

She glanced at him and smirked. It was quite amusing how they were talking in such quick, terse sentences. Almost as if they were secret agents and absolutely could not be overheard. "Let's just say that Truth or Dare isn't just a child's game."

"Truth or what?"

Ha. Fortunately, Sirius was one hundred percent Pureblood with no Muggle or Muggleborn friends so he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. So, technically, Marlene hadn't given anything away whatsoever. Quite intelligent.

"Don't worry, Black," she told him, shouldering past him before he could make a grab at her in order to keep her there, "we're on the same side."

OOO

To go, or not to go?

She had ten minutes to make up her mind. Should she run for the hills of Scotland, or walk to her certain death? Scolding herself, she slammed her goblet of water back onto the Gryffindor table, some of its contents sloshing over the side and onto the table. She was Head Girl and what kind of an example would she set if she blew off her second detention of the year, or any detention for that matter? Not a very good one, she knew that.

Maybe if she were more like Potter she wouldn't mind so much about skiving off a detention…

Bloody Potter.

"It won't be that hard," Dorcas tried to reassure her.

Lily glared into her plate. Yeah, Dorcas wasn't the one with all the problems, was she? "Easy for you to say."

The sounds of students chatting to their friends about their day accompanied with the sound of cutlery smacking against the sides of plates joyously filled the awkward silence that followed. And then, coming from only two seats down, Lily heard _his _voice. Simultaneously, her stomach dropped and her heart picked up as she heard him say, "Pass the potatoes, Padfoot."

She really was getting tired of the way he seemed to so easily affect her nowadays.

Trying to block out his voice, she began clanking her fork and knife against her plate rather unnecessarily as she attempted to cut through her chicken leg. In fact, she was just about to make even more noise by striking up a pointless conversation when she heard someone say her name.

"Why not ask _Evans_ to pass you the potatoes?"

Lily's head shot up in the exact direction she knew the voice had come from; Sirius Black was smirking at her in a highly unpleasant way that made Lily want to hex his face clear off his handsome head.

"Maybe because they're right in front of you," James answered with a clenched jaw. Lily could tell that he was trying extremely hard not to look in her direction.

"But Evans' look much tastier," Sirius continued.

Lily's eye was beginning to twitch and she jumped slightly when James threw his silverware onto the table and stood up hastily. "I'm leaving now," he announced to his friends, something extremely crazed in his eyes, as if he were telling Sirius that he better shut the hell up before he ended up with blisters all over his body.

Oh, Merlin. Lily began making useless noise again. He was heading to detention; _their _detention. Her thoughts jumped back to her previous question: To go, or not to go? Goodness, what an overused line of Shakespeare…she wondered if the playwright had known that his plays would be cited for decades…Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet—forbidden love due to circumstances…

Ha. Funny how she'd thought of herself and James…

Holy Snitch; she'd just referred to herself, and Potter, as a classic love story.

Suddenly her friends began shifting uneasily and nudging her in the ribs, interrupting her horrifying thoughts of Muggle Shakespeare. Marlene even kicked her shin under the table; Lily cried out in pain, rubbing her leg. She was just about to ask who had spiked their drinks with Essence of Ants-in-the-Pants when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

Her stomach seemed to fall out of her butt.

Somehow she knew that touch.

Perhaps it was the way her shoulder was now tingling…She wondered if Juliet ever—

No. Absolutely not. Stop it.

"I suppose we should get going, yeah?"

As if she were expecting to turn and find herself face to face with You-Know-Who, Lily spun on her seat very slowly her eyes closed tightly shut. This was not part of the plan! He wasn't supposed to have waited for her! The less time she spent with him, the better for her prideful ego. Besides, she thought he had left already.

"You could've gone," she told him, opening her eyes and fixing them upon the Head Boy.

The bloke's in question eyes flickered, as if he wanted to glare at her angrily but couldn't will himself to do it. It was almost as if it would be morally wrong to glare at a girl. What a gentleman. Instead he settled for simply turning his back on her. "Coming or what?" he asked her bluntly.

Alice pushed her forward. "Go on," she muttered.

Lily stumbled to her feet before whipping around to fix her friends with the coldest stare she could muster; Sirius snorted from a couple seats down the table. In a huff, she straightened her robes, upon which her Head Girl badge sat, and once again she pondered the ludicrous fact that she was heading off to do a detention…with James Potter…the really bad and completely unrelated version of Romeo.

She really needed to stop doing this to herself.

Speaking of Potter…she turned to face him, expecting him to still be waiting for her, but he had already begun to strut down the great hall, between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. Something inside of her sparked and she hurried after him.

Hold up…why was she hurrying after him? Stop feet, stop!

"If you weren't going to wait…" muttered Lily, slowing down after she had caught up with him. For some reason that fact bugged her more than it should have. Her nerves were itching, as if they too realized that this was the closest she'd been to Potter in the past week or so. Well, besides that Quidditch practice…and the time when he had walked by her desk, purposefully knocking over her books…and the time—

Oh, screw it.

He turned his head a fraction of an inch to give her a somewhat pitying look; Lily saw the muscles around his mouth twitch. From what, she didn't know. A brief scowl crossed his features before he turned his head away from her. Lily considered this a pretty large Bat Bogey hex to the face. She had figured that, because Sirius had told him about her misunderstanding, he would've softened towards her a little; maybe even he would be the one to bring the issue up.

Bother, had she been wrong. It seemed like James Potter was just as stubborn as she was. Odd, sense he was usually 'all gas, no breaks' when it came to Lily Evans. Scariest part was that she missed it…

No, no, no. There was no way in _hell _she missed James bloody Potter.

During her thoughts escapade, they had approached McGonagall's door before Lily even had time to register how her whole body seemed to jump with nerves when the voice of their professor called out, "Enter."

One way or another, and Lily really wasn't quite sure how it came about to be, but somehow there ended up being a small, silent brawl over who would enter the room first. Potter had pushed open the door slowly and Lily had made to march through it (because, honestly, wasn't that what Romeo would do? Goodness, she was going off the deep end). Unfortunately, James had made to walk through it at the same time, and well, they had ended up bouncing against each other.

Lily jumped back at the sudden warming contact, rubbing her arm soothingly where he had rammed into her.

"Close the door behind you," McGonagall said briskly.

It turned out that James had won their brief door struggle; this just further proved the fact that he was _not _her Romeo. Romeo surely wouldn't have been so rude to Juliet. Somewhat red in the face—due to anger and slight embarrassment that she just couldn't shake this clichéd Shakespeare metaphor—Lily readjusted her bag and nodded to McGonagall.

"Good evening, Mister Potter, Miss Evans," the older witch greeted them, peering at both of them in turn with a stern expression. Jeez, what had her wand in a knot?

Oh, right, they had detention.

"Hullo, Professor," muttered James.

"Good evening," Lily replied, much more sophisticated. Ha, take that, Potter! No matter how childish it was, Lily got some joyful satisfaction of gaining these personal steps ahead of James.

The deputy headmistress continued to survey them both for a second; Lily had a sick feeling that she knew about their little door issue. "Never," she began, standing up from behind her desk, "in my years of teaching here have I ever had both the Head Girl and Head Boy in my office for a detention, and this is your second infringement."

Lily heard James's feet scuffling uncomfortably beside her. Well, at least he showed some remorse…or was it because he was within two feet of Lily? Lily was certain it was the latter considering Potter had probably had more detentions than everyone in the school combined. And why was she daydreaming about Potter's suspected repentance anyways, because, quite frankly, she didn't care.

Alright, maybe she cared a little.

Wait, McGonagall was speaking, wasn't she?

"Now, I want you two to clean my desks…what propels a student to draw on school property is beyond my comprehension," McGonagall explained as if the word 'draw' and 'desks' should never be placed in the same sentence.

Something like a grin attempted to spread across James's face. Lily rolled her eyes, knowing perfectly well who was most likely behind the odd designs appearing underneath McGonagall's class desks. He was so…he was so…

Immature.

Rude.

Obnoxious.

Sexy when he was mischievous.

_Oh sodding Merlin._

"No magic," Mcgonagall was saying, holding her hand out into which both James and Lily deposited their wands with a look of forlorn. "Your materials are here," she waved her wand and a bucket filled to the brim with soapy water and sponges appeared out of nowhere, "I'll be back in two hours and I expect things to be…in order."

Lily had a suspicious feeling that her professor was talking less about the desks and more about her and Potter's physical appearances. Oh, Merlin…if her own professor didn't have much faith in them then Lily was certain that she was _not _going to be able to sort things out.

This was ridiculous.

Stupid, pointless, unrealistic, dare that was turning her into a paranoiac freak.

They both turned to watch the Transfiguration instructor exit the room. "Potter," McGonagall hesitated as she paused in the doorway of her classroom, "no funny business."

Ha, typical that she would warn James.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Professor," James replied with a tight grin.

Something inside of Lily growled at his lightheartedness in this situation. Who did he think he was? Funny business…if he tried to do anything funny she would…well, she didn't know what she would do…but he could bet ten galleons that she'd do something…wait, why was she mad at him again?

With a snap that alerted Lily back to reality, the door closed, and for a split second Lily thought about running after McGonagall, grabbing her wand, and making a run for it. She was here, with Potter, alone; she could hear him breathing! Breathing for Merlin's sake! Blood rushed to her cheeks.

What gave him the right to breathe so huskily?

Trying to figure out if she should say anything or not—and also wanting to hide her blazing and sudden blush—Lily bent down beside the bucket of water and grabbed a sponge. James followed her lead. There was a short silence as they both knelt beside the bucket of soapy suds. They glanced at each other.

His hair was still damp from a recent shower and the smell of his aftershave was drifting under her nose every time he turned his bleeding a head a fraction of an inch. His uniform shirt collar was unbuttoned by two buttons, exposing his collarbone and neck.

She wondered what it would feel like to…

Holy Chimera!

Bloody Shakespeare had addled her brain!

_Quick, say something. _

"I suppose we should get started then, Potter," she said, standing up abruptly and taking the bucket with her.

_Not that, stupid!_

Leaving him slightly confused—she would be too if he had been staring at her for a straight minute and then abruptly told her to start cleaning—she shrugged off her inner conscience and began scrubbing the nearest desk. _Ignore Potter, ignore Romeo, ignore Muggle playwrights. _There was a very detailed drawing of a Snitch with something inscribed inside…it looked like, letters? There was an 'L'…

Well, at least she found something to distract herself with besides James Potter—

"I'll do that one," James said briskly, pushing Lily's hand away and taking over the desk she had been working on, his eyes obviously diverting her own.

So much for him not distracting her.

Jerk.

Yet she couldn't shake off the goosebumps that had erupted there the moment he had touched her. Darn him! She was meant to be angry at him—for what she wasn't sure…she really didn't have a legitimate reason—regardless, how could he have that affect on her? It infuriated her.

"You pushed me," she said angrily, slapping her sponge onto the same desk, wanting to win it back over simply so that Potter wouldn't have gotten one step ahead of her. He had won at far too much lately.

"Yeah," James said simply, furiously scrubbing at the ink-drawn Snitch, "because I want this one."

How pathetic were they? Fighting over who would clean what desk? Dang, things had really deteriorated between them.

'_Star-cross'd lovers…'_

_Gah, quit it!_

"I was there first."

"Go do that one," he offered to her, pointing to the desk behind the one he was working on.

Argh! He was so infuriating! How in the world was she going to stomach talking with him about their non-existent relationship? Stupid dare…stupid Potter…stupid sponge!

"Why don't you?" she retorted, hands on her hips, her soapy sponge lying forgotten on the Snitch-desk.

"Because I'm here."

"So am I."

Before she could stop him, he'd taken her sponge with his free hand and had chucked it behind him a few seats. "Now you're not."

For the love of Merlin, she wished she had her wand on her…"You, James Potter, are the most—"

She broke off talking, and he stopped scrubbing, as something began to speak from James's back pocket. What in the world—

"Prongs?"Lily plastered James with an accusing stare, for she was sure she had just heard Sirius Black's voice coming from Potter's buttocks. He made a grab for his derriere pocket and withdrew from it a mirror. The Head Boy glanced at Lily before speaking back into the mirror. Yes, the boy was _talking _to a mirror. What was more, as Lily peered over James's shoulder curiously, was that Sirius's face was the one reflected in the mirror, not James's.

How odd.

That was not how mirrors generally tended to operate.

She'd always known that those boys were off their rockers.

"Padfoot," James remarked threateningly, his voice low. Despite the hostility, though, James was acting as if this kind of thing happened every day. Now, maybe it was simply because Lily grew up using mirrors to look at herself that she found this strange.

"How's it going with Evans?" Sirius's bodiless voice asked innocently.

For some reason, Lily's heart sped up rather quickly as she watched James give a brief scowl at his friend, as if he were trying to tell Sirius that Lily was right behind him, could hear every word that he was going to say, and that he better not say anything stupid otherwise Sirius would wake up in the morning without a toe. How Lily had interpreted that all from one look was beyond her, but it made her feel quite uneasy.

She frowned herself. If McGonagall walked in and caught them talking to a mirror…an explicit activity, Lily was sure. And who knew what would come out of Sirius's mouth? After all, he practically knew that Lily had fallen for James…had practically been flaunting it for the whole day…

That mirror needed to be destroyed…

Lily gave a cough that demanded attention. "Put that away," she ordered. Somewhere deep down she knew she was being ridiculously immature. If she weren't so determined to push James away until she absolutely had to do her second dare she knew that she probably wouldn't even care that James and Sirius had somehow turned a mirror into a communication device.

But, seeing their current circumstances…

She watched James's back tighten as Black glanced at her from the mirror. "'Having fun, Evans?" he asked her, winking.

Screw him and his winks. She scowled. "Potter, give it here."

"What are you going to do, Evans, give me another detention?" he taunted her, his back still turned to her.

Sirius watched the two with keen interest as Lily made a grab for the mirror. James snatched it back. Both of them were now glaring, the mirror held between them like a life line. "Well, I'll just leave you two to it," Sirius announced with a smirk. Lily and James both shot their gaze back towards the face of the mirror to find a smirking Sirius…eerie; it was as if he thought they were going to—"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he warned, and with one last wink of his left eye he disappeared.

Smart bloke.

Now, as Lily looked down into it, her own face as well as Potter's was fixed in the glass. An awkwardness settled between them at Padfoot's departure. "Put it away," she repeated finally, realizing just how close they actually were as she wrenched her hands from the communication device as if it had some disgusting disease. "Merlin only knows what other type of illegal stuff you're hiding."

James's hand tightened on his sponge as he ripped his stare from the redhead's face. "How many people have you blabbed to about me being an Animagus then?" he asked her scathingly, now scrubbing the small ink-Snitch so hard that Lily was surprised the desk was still even solid.

She made sure to kick his foot hard as she made her way to her sponge. "You know I wouldn't," she hissed at him, stung. With much more force than she had attended, she slammed her sponge into the bucket and began working on her own, better-than-Potter's, desk.

For a while, the only sounds were that of their porous cleaning aids squeaking against the polished wood of the tables. Darn it, Potter. How could he be so distracting? She glanced up and over at him; he was kneeling on his knees, his backside protruded in the air as he rubbed away at the bottom side of the desk. His shirt had risen slightly and she had a clear view of a small sliver of flesh on his toned back. Darn him and his distracting ways! How could she even find desk-cleaning attractive?

She wouldn't have been thinking this way if Shakespeare hadn't entered her mind so randomly during dinner.

Lily's head was pounding as she worked away, trying to rub her more than PG thoughts of James Potter right out of head…there was no way she could talk to him…she would just have to settle for kissing Snape.

Wow, she might as well have just announced that she was going to break into Gringotts.

She looked up and watched Potter work for a while once again. He really was quite distracting. The muscles in his hands seemed to pop with strain as he attempted to smash his sponge _into _the table—well, at least that's what it looked like what he was doing. Perhaps she should just fulfill her dare; at least it would end this insufferable tension…really, all she had to do was tell him that she had misunderstood his intentions; she didn't have to….throw herself at his body, for Merlin's sake. Lily sighed wistfully.

At that moment James snapped his head up and spun on the spot, water flinging from his sponge. Lily was caught in surprise as his gaze met hers. Perhaps she shouldn't have sighed so loudly, or perhaps he'd known that she'd been watching him…how embarrassing.

"Potter, I…"

Nope, she couldn't do it. It was way to humiliating; Lily had never been wrong, had never felt this guilty and depressed, about rejecting or hurting James Potter before. To admit that she had made a mistake would mean she'd have to admit to everything else…she may as well just throw her diary at him.

He looked up, something close to hope in his hazel eyes. "What?"

No, she would feel way too exposed, naked even, to reveal to Potter her inner-most thoughts. "Nothing."

But before she could look down at her soapy hands again in shameful solitude, James had roared a groan of outrage and had hastily pulled himself up from the ground. He looked so torn…so confused…so…angry.

"Why can't you just admit that you were wrong?" he suddenly burst out at her, his fingers that held the sponge balling up into a fist, causing a waterfall of dirty water to spill down onto the floor.

Oh no. He had snapped. She was done for. She felt like a small animal caught in the headlights of an approaching vehicle. Her eyes widened. Get away from the headlights, run away! She couldn't move; pretty soon she'd be road-kill, and her story really would end like Romeo and Juliet's…well, except Potter would still be alive…

No. She couldn't let him live, couldn't let him get ahead of her again. She had let him do far too much of that. And her self-restraint snapped, something that had never been a strong point with her anyways, which caused her to say the first comeback she could think of.

"Why can't _you_?" she retorted.

Wow, because that wasn't lame at all. Though, she guessed she couldn't really say anything wittier to his accusations mostly because he was one hundred percent right.

He cursed to himself as he stood up and approached her desk. _Back away, Potter! One more step and I'll…_

Snog him?

_Say what, brain? _

"Dammit, Evans," he told her, running a hand through his hair, which was a pretty stupid thing to do, considering both of his hands were wet and now tiny soap suds contrasted brightly against his black hair.

Matching his movements—well, not his whole hair-ordeal motion for she liked to think of herself as more poised than he—she scrambled to her feet as well, nearly slipping on the spill from his sponge. "What?" she asked him, her voice high with strain, "What do you want to say?"

"I don't want to say anything!" he shot back.

"Well, then maybe you should just go back to cleaning your desk that you so adamantly defended!"

What was she doing? Someone had answered her prayers by making him be the first one to mention that there was something between them to fix. Why wasn't she taking that advantage? Bloody pride…Gah! This was so pitiable. She just couldn't do it. The only way she seemed like she'd be able to tell him anything is if they were screaming their heads off at each other…yet screaming at each other usually only got her angrier and then nothing would probably ever be exchanged between them except a hex.

Oh wait. They didn't have wands.

Then again, maybe they wouldn't need hexes. Lily had a strong feeling that if things got too out of hand she'd lose herself and do something that would only embarrass her…like launch herself at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Lily?" he asked her desperately.

Lily. Lily? When had they agreed to go back to first names? She had never made such an agreement! Her knees began to wobble…argh! Bloody knees, stay strong! All he had done was say her name, for goodness sakes!

"I'm perfectly fine—"

"—No, you're not. You've got…issues."

If he was trying to get a rise out of her…it was working. Her hands were shaking now and her heart was beating like a drum on steroids…those were not good signs. "Issues?" she repeated hysterically—she seemed to be in hysterics a lot these days—"the only issue I have is that you landed me here, in detention!"

He made a weird motion—he half-turned as if he wanted to stalk away from her, but then he swung his body back around. He ended up closer to her than he had started and closer than she had anticipated. Her breath caught in her throat as he grabbed her arms in one quick motion, like he'd just snagged that silly Snitch he used to play with straight out of the air.

Oh, Merlin. She'd just referred to herself as _his_ Snitch. First Romeo, now his Snitch? She was really screwed over now.

"This is _not _about detention!" he half-shouted at her, "_this_ is about you and your out-of-control pride complex!"

"Like you can talk! You're the most prideful person I've ever met," she countered, quite pleased that her brain hadn't completely melted from his contact.

"Just admit that you were wrong!"

"I wasn't wrong about anything!"

"Yes you were!"

"No."

Of course she was lying; she knew it.

And, of course, James knew she was lying through her teeth as well. His grip tightened on her arms and Lily was sure that her blood flow had definitely stopped. For some strange reason, though, she didn't care. She didn't give a Hippogriff's beak that he was to the point of snapping her arms off because right now anger and passion were pulsing through her like never before.

Was she going crazy again?

"Merlin, Lily," he said, pulling her a bit closer.

"Merlin, _what_?" she cried, getting fed up with everything, "You know what? You are so—mmuphhh."

Somehow Lily found herself unable to speak as something obstructed her only means of communication. That obstruction came in the form of James' lips crashing down onto her own. Great; he had successfully snagged the Snitch. For a split second it was as if neither one could believe that he had actually done it and they were simply standing there connected by the mouth. And then he grabbed her waist possessively and began kissing her like he'd never kissed her before. Her mind was screaming at him—honestly, how dare he cut her off by the use of his lips—but her body was giving into him.

_I'm kissing James Potter._

…_sigh…_

_Holy Flobberworm! I'm snogging James-I-think-bets-are-cool-Potter!_

There was clatter as, in their haste, they knocked over the bucket of water that had been resting on the floor by her feet. That simple noise was all Lily had needed as, quite suddenly, Lily's mind caught up with her body and she pushed herself away from him. "_What_," she began, trying to gain control of herself, "was _that_?"

_Oh, no. Oh, no. What did I just do?_

He was watching her palms on his chest anxiously—wait, how had those gotten there?— before he looked up at her. "That," he answered, panting slightly, "_wasn't _the bet."

Lily startled at his words. And then, without any warning whatsoever—and James really would have liked some type of caution sign—Lily brought her hand up and smacked him across the face. "You," she said, "are so useless! A bet? What were you thinking?"

He made a grab for the second hand, and held it to his chest, afraid that perhaps she would decide to slap him again. Lily's chest was rising and falling as she herself seemed shocked that she had just hit him. They were a mere quill's length apart.

"What were _you _thinking? You were content to string me along!" he retorted.

"I did not—you don't know—that was before…" It seemed she was once again unable to put together more than three coherent words to form an intelligent sentence. She bit her lip and looked down at their chests that were so close to touching.

"Before what?"

She tried glaring at him. "Before you invaded my delicate mind!" she blurted out. "With your stupid bet—" she poked him in the arm, "—and your stupid charm—" she jabbed him again with her forefinger and he staggered backwards slightly, "—and your even stupider friends."

It was like she was on a runaway broomstick and was just unable to stop the speed at which her confession was flying from her motor-mouth.

"The bet had nothing to do with you."

She bristled. "Well, it could have."

"But it didn't."

"Doesn't matter."

"You better bet it does."

Bet? Merlin, she really did hate that word. "Shut up," she snapped loudly, completely fed up with everything now.

He looked at her carefully and took a confident half a step towards her. "Make me," he challenged.

He was staring at her in such a way that made her brain freeze. In fact, she was positive that if he hadn't been holding her arms she would have stumbled backwards into the desks behind her. Not only would that have looked extremely foolish and hurt a lot, but it would have caused her to step away from James Potter, something that right now she wasn't even considering an option. His hazel eyes were narrowed ever so slightly and his breathing was long and deep.

"Make me," he told her again.

"I don't have my wand," she told him.

Wow, how stupid had that sounded?

Whatever she had said had been the complete wrong thing to say, because James dropped her and turned away from her, his hands lost in his hair yet again. She shivered for whatever reason. "Why'd you do it?"

"What?" she asked him, even though she knew perfectly well what he was talking about. She had just hoped she wouldn't have to tell him.

"Why did you do everything that you did?"

An odd sensation overtook Lily. It was like some invisible force was pulling at her naval. She had heard that traveling by Portkey could do this to a Witch or Wizard, but seeing as she hadn't touched anything that could potentially teleport her somewhere…Bugger. It was the dare. She wasn't quite sure how she knew, but she did. Had she waited too long to complete it or something?

It was either now or later.

And later would probably be too late. She really didn't have an itching to give Snape a kiss.

"Dared." She answered.

She would have liked to think it was the dare pulling her to do this, but seeing as she hadn't remembered ever putting such a spell on the Truth or Dare parchment…James was simply getting to her.

He turned back towards her. "What?"

"I was dared, alright? It's a silly Muggle game that children play; tell someone to do something and they have to do it…" she realized that her motor-mouth was back so she quickly shut it off.

"So, you _pretended _to like me?" he accused.

Well…that was certainly one way of putting it. Jeez, it sounded so much worse when he said it. In her defense, though, she had thought that he was doing the same thing. Too bad that she knew that excuse wouldn't get passed James; he lived too much in the present to consider the past. Perhaps that's why he'd never let any of her refusals get to him.

"Yes."

His face fell somewhat. Dear, that had come out wrong. "No," she said rather quickly; she mentally slapped herself, "I mean, yes and no—well at first…"

It was no wonder that James was watching her blankly; she had made no sense at all. Godric, she was bad at this. Her friends better appreciate the torture they were putting her through with this dare…but would it really be that torturous if she fixed things with James? Well, at the rate she was going…

And then James began to nod his head, as if he really had understood what she was trying to say. He shoved his hands in his pockets nervously—though Lily wondered what he was nervous about. It made her quite nervous as well.

"I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to answer honestly," he said.

Oh no. What was he going to say? There were so many things he could potentially ask: Why are you such a (insert obscene word here)?—Do you expect me to still like you? (Godric, she hoped so)—Do you fancy me? (Gulp…yes)—What's your favorite type of vegetable? (Green beans). Okay, so she had no idea why he would ask the last one, but really…Did nerves make her ramble, or what?

Ironically, of all the question she had thought of, he asked her the one she hadn't been expecting.

"Evans," he shook his head and looked at her again, "_Lily_, Hogsmeade, next weekend?"

The feeling that took place in her gut was the same type of feeling she got whenever she made a fifty foot dive on her broom, or whenever she nearly avoided a careening Bludger and was congratulated on her fantastic dodge by her team, or whenever Potter—no, James—annoyed her, pushed her, made her want to hex the life out of him. Every single one of those times made her fear for her life, or sanity, and that was what she was feeling when she opened her mouth.

But nothing came out.

Darn it.

It felt like someone had shoved a Bludger down her throat and she had been too darn prideful to go the Hospital Wing to get it removed.

She looked at James helplessly who was watching her with a rather odd expression on his face, one she couldn't quite place. If she had to, she would explain it as the look her sister wore whenever Lily caught her snooping around in her school trunk when she came home for vacations; of course, Lily never said anything when she caught Petunia in this act, but the look was always one of un-attainability; magic was right there in Petunia's grasp, yet she was unable to have it.

And then James uttered a word that quite fully summed up their whole situation. "Damn."

He said it so quietly, almost as if he hadn't meant for her to hear it. In a slow movement, he bended down and picked up his discarded sponge. "Let's finish this before McGonagall comes back," he continued, turning from her.

Something inside of her lurched at the sight of him leaving. "No," she said quickly, the word scraping past the ball still lodged in her throat; it stung. He stopped for a fraction of a second. "I mean—that's not what I—Merlin, bloody vocal chords," she said angrily more so to herself than to him.

Why couldn't she just scream yes in answer to his question, jump into his arms, and snog him until McGonagall entered by which time they would have to spring apart and attempt to look like they hadn't just been pertaining in a visual display of PDA? Why was this so freaking difficult? Why couldn't she block out her rational mind which was repeatedly telling her that this thing between them would never work? It would work. It could work.

Darn it all. She was a horrible excuse for a girl.

It took her about ten seconds to realize that Potter had been watching her with a rather afraid look on his face the whole time she'd been inwardly fighting with herself. Nah, maybe afraid was the wrong choice of word—worried, maybe. Nope. Still wrong…

_Godric, he's looking at me oddly again. Stop fighting brain, stop!_

"Yes," she suddenly blurted out, having not meant to at all. Why did he always make her so obnoxiously nervous? He probably wouldn't even take her anyways, now knowing that she was, quite possibly, on the verge of schizophrenia.

His eyebrows hitched together and met in the center of his forehead. Dear Godric, he thought she was bonkers.

"Okay…seriously, are you alright?" he asked her bluntly, a trace of annoyance evident in his voice.

"No," she answered. Her heart began pounding frantically and a random surge of adrenaline swept through her body, alerting all of her emotions, dislodging the Bludger in her esophagus, and making her arms jumpy with the repressed desire of throwing them around James's neck.

His left eye narrowed as he peered at her. "Okay then…"

He obviously didn't have a clue what was wrong with her, and to be completely honest, neither did she. All she knew was that some source of energy had sprung from inside of her, like newly released Quidditch balls at the start of a game. Perhaps it was because she was about to begin a new game as well.

All of this talk about Quidditch; Merlin, she'd turned into a regular broomstick fanatic. All thanks to him and his pathetically cute hair, and his bloody arm pads, and stupid Starshooter…

"I need my Beater bat," she finally said.

If she had thought that James couldn't have looked more confused than he had before this, his facial expression now would have just proved her wrong. "Er…sorry?"

"Knock some sense into my head."

"Why?"

A small grin spread across her lips despite the muffled attempts of her brain screaming at her to stop. "Because," she glanced at him with a defiant gleam in her eyes, "I just agreed to go on a date with a Quidditch player."

And just as James made a grab for her, and their lips were about to meet, a stifled sound came from James's pants. They paused and looked at each other confusedly. It sounded like someone had thrown a wool blanket over a miniature rock concert.

"Padfoot!" James accused as he and Lily looked down into the face of the small, hand-held mirror that James had procured from his pocket.

It seemed as if the other mirror, belonging to Sirius, had been left on a bed because the only view that James and Lily had was that of a white ceiling and bit of a mahogany bedpost. James was shaking his head in amusement as whoops of joy and clapping could be heard.

"Hand over the sickles, Pettigrew," Marlene's voice called out from somewhere that was just beyond the visual range of the glass.

Lily's mouth dropped open in horror. What the—

"Rotten luck, mate," Sirius was saying as a flicker of gold flew across the mirror and over to the other side of the bed it was lying on. "I tried to warn you that Prongs' charm would overwhelm Evans' immediate desire to strangle him."

James's eyes narrowed at the thought of his friends betting against him.

Lily's hands clenched at the thought that her friends had put money on her relationship with James after her known hatred for everything to do with bets, gambling, or galleons!

"Padfoot!" James shouted into the mirror, "I'm going to give you ten seconds before I come hex your hair green."

Suddenly Sirius's face appeared upside down in their viewing glass. "You should know, Prongs, that I was always rooting for you."

"Always?" Dorcas cried happily, "You were moaning just three hours ago about how you wouldn't have a best mate at the end of tonight , Black!"

"Did I say always? I meant for the past three hours."

James shook his head. "One…"

"Oh, I'm so scared," Sirius mocked.

"Seven…"

"Merlin, mate, who taught you math?"

"Nine…"

"Have fun with him, Evans," Sirius said quickly, saluting her, before he disappeared, as did their view of the boys' dormitory plastered ceiling.

It was slightly ironic that McGonagall scheduled the two for another detention later that very same week for 'not using their time wisely, deliberately abandoning their cleaning materials, and engaging in inappropriate behavior during a time of punishment.' The irony wasn't so much in the fact that the Head Boy and Girl would be serving their third detention that term, but by the fact that they had both been punished the first time for bickering with each other, the second time for trying to get revenge on the other, and the third time for getting caught in a lip-lock moments after they'd been about to rip each other's hair out.

Needless to say, neither one minded the prospect of spending another night in detention with each other; especially since McGonagall had sentenced them to polishing the school brooms, Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch for the next upcoming Quidditch semi-finals.

Lily and James were of the same opinion that their Head of House wanted all of the sports' supplies to be up to their best ability so Gryffindor had the best chances of winning the House Cup. Perhaps that's also why she ended up cancelling their detention so that Gryffindor's captain and Beater could attend their Friday night practice. Not to worry, though, because ex-Beater and personal hater of Lily Evans was caught placing a tripping jinx just outside the seventh year girl's dormitory, and it would be that poor soul who would have to spend four hours scrubbing the various balls, brooms, and shoulder pads.

And before they exited the castle to enter the changing rooms in order to put on all of their Quidditch gear, Lily and James shared a quick kiss, ignoring Amelia Evans as she strutted by the pair, muttering about how there should be a law of separation between school relationships and Quidditch.

* * *

_**THE END!** _

_Awww, I'm so depressed now. Well, perhaps it isn't the end, seeing as I'll most likely come back and post an edited version. Anyways, despite how unedited and cringe-worthy I feel it to be, I hope you enjoyed this chapter which just so happens to be the last one. I really owe the success of completion to all of you guys, because if you hadn't reviewed and pestered me into writing chapters this sotry probably would never have been completed! So, thanks a zillion times infinity. _

_Oh and I liked all of the responses I got to "who is your favorite HP character?" Mine are Ron, Fred and George. Basically the Weasleys rock...and saying Harry sounded to cliched. Speaking of cliche, I tired to make this chapter as sap/cheese free as possible, though I think it was a bit impossible to eliminate it all._

_Anyways, feel free to review with any comment you desire. Thank you so much for reading this entire story! Oh, and I think I may be starting a new story--so here's the rough summary of what it might be: No on at Hogwarts knows who the Marauders are; the students' only clue is an emblem left after every prank that incorporates four differnt types of paw prints. While Lily isn't so impressed with a certain James Potter's attempts to woo her, the one and only Mister Prongs has indeed caught her attention by the mysterious notes he leaves her after every prank. _

_Yeah, so that's basically what it will be about and how Lily reacts once she pieces the clues together and finds out that Potter and Prongs could very likely be the same person. Tell me what you think of this idea...I don't know if it's ever been done before and I don't want to rewrite something that's been done a million times, so give me your thoughts! If you have another idea, feel free to tell me!_

_Until then!_

_--HeyLookTheSnitch_


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